


We're Right Where We're Supposed To Be

by CarlyCo



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bar Room Brawl, Domestic Rogues, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Interracial Relationship, Lazarus Pit, M/M, Protective Oliver, Rare Pairings, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-09-12 13:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9073957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlyCo/pseuds/CarlyCo
Summary: What’s done can’t be undone. Barry thought the hard part about returning to his timeline was allowing the Reverse Flash to kill his mother again. However, now that he is home, the speedster is learning that nothing is the way it was before Flashpoint. Can he risk changing the timeline again? Do the people affected by the changes even want Barry to “fix” things? He drops in on the four couples’ most affected by his actions to find out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will have at least two chapters exploring the relationships of the new pairings. Some couples will have more.

**Star City**

 

Mari yawned as she stood on the balcony drinking a cup of coffee. It was 7 o’clock in the morning, but she had only fallen asleep three hours ago. When she took on the role of superhero, no one told her that the hours were so lousy. Her nights were even busier in Star City than they had been in Detroit—and that was saying something. However, the decision to move, temporarily, was the right one. Mari’s powers were derived from her totem, but she needed to be a capable fighter. The young woman didn’t know a better fighter or man than Oliver Queen. He had been training her for the last five months and the results were impressive.

Oliver padded out onto the balcony wearing only a pair of low-slung pajama bottoms. He walked up behind Mari and rested his chin her shoulder. Then he inhaled deeply and said, “Please, tell me that you were kind and brewed a full pot of coffee this morning.”

She smirked and leaned back against his muscled chest. “I was practically beatific because I used that French press that you bought for me as a housewarming gift. I’m beginning to think that you only bought it for yourself.”

A quiet chuckle rumbled from deep within his chest as he kissed the top of her head. Oliver slid a hand onto her hip. “That would have been incredibly presumptuous of me. How was I to know that I would be spending the night here so often?”

Mari turned around to face Oliver and playfully scowled at the feigned bemused expression on his chiseled face. “Well, you are Oliver Queen. You are quite used to getting what you want from women. Besides, I think ogling your sweaty body while we trained might have tipped you off.”

“Really? I never noticed,” he teased.

She leaned closer and whispered, “Oh, I’d say at least part of your body was very aware of the attraction and was quite interested in reciprocating.”

Oliver’s eyes darkened as he remembered how often he became aroused while he trained Mari in hand to hand combat. “Were you toying with me, Miss McCabe?”

Mari pulled out of his grasp and sauntered into her apartment. “Toying is such an accusatory word, Mr. Queen. I was just feeling you out.”

Oliver chuckled and turned to watch Mari walk away from him. She was dressed in only a Green Arrow t-shirt that she insisted on purchasing from a street vendor last week. Oliver snapped out of his trance and followed Mari into the kitchen.

She was pouring a cup of coffee for Oliver. “I heard the phone ring a few minutes ago. Can I assume that you have to go in today?”

Oliver pulled a carton of eggs, cheese, onions, and ham from the refrigerator. He closed the refrigerator door with his hip and walked over to the counter. He said, “Duty calls.”

Mari added sugar to Oliver’s coffee and then hopped up onto the counter to watch him cook. She took a sip from her own mug and asked, “Day job or night job?”

Oliver cracked a couple of eggs into a glass-mixing bowl. He said, “I have to go into City Hall today. Thea wants to strategize. People are a little irritated with how many meetings I’ve been late to or missed altogether.”

Mari hummed quietly and said, “Felicity has been telling you to assemble a new team. The three of us can’t protect the city alone. Aren’t you the one that told me there was no shame in asking for help?”

He frowned at the girl. “Pass me the cheese grater, please.”

Mari opened the drawer beside her thigh and handed Oliver the cheese grater and a whisk. “Pretending not to hear me isn’t going isn’t going to make what I said any less true, Oliver. You can’t be all things to all people. If you go on like this, you’re going to continue to drop the balls you’re juggling.”

Oliver leaned over and kissed Mari. He pulled back with a smirk. “I’m so glad that you said that, because I could use your help.”

The girl couldn’t help but to feel as if she had unwittingly stepped into a trap. She eyed Oliver suspiciously. “I already help you with your night job. I even started wearing the silly mask to protect my identity and yours. What more could you want from me?”

He chuckled and replied, “Well, I’ll tell you now that this was Thea’s idea. She’s been badgering me about it since she found out about us a few weeks ago.”

Mari bit her lip. Thea found out about their relationship because of an ill-timed text message. Mari had a habit of sending Oliver flirtatious and sometimes downright pornographic messages while he was in boring meetings. Unfortunately, that day Oliver was running late and left his phone in the office where Thea was working. Thea let curiosity get the best of her and read an incredibly lewd message meant for her older brother. “I’m sorry about that, Oliver.”

He stopped whisking the eggs and stepped between Mari’s legs. He held her face with both hands and said, “It’s unfortunate that my sister found out that way. It’s even worse that she scrolled up and saw some of my older replies. But I’m not ashamed of what we’re doing, Mari.”

“But Felicity,” she started.

“Felicity is dating a very geeky but ultimately nice police detective. She’s moved on with her life and I am allowed to move on with mine.”

Mari looked at him with uncertain brown eyes. “Is that what you’re doing? Moving on?” she asked.

Oliver kissed her softly and then said, “I hope that’s what I’m doing. I have a very nice place of my own where I could be staying but I’m here with you most nights. I want to be here with you, Mari.”

She laughed nervously. “Well, that escalated quickly.”

“Come on. Tell me what’s on your mind, please?” He had a good idea of what was holding Mari back. It was something of a pink elephant in the room at all times.

“What if this is just a rebound relationship? I mean it’s okay if that’s what it is, Oliver. You never promised me anything when we started sleeping together. It was just fun, easy, and really good.”

Oliver said, “I’ll admit that’s how this started out. It’s what I needed at the time. Nevertheless, we have been at this for months now, Mari. Felicity and I ended our engagement months before you moved here. I’m not waiting for her. Felicity is my friend and I love her but she was right about our relationship. I couldn’t give her what she needed and that wasn’t fair to her. There are always going to be parts of me that I hold back from other people. I like what you and I have together, Mari. I’m right where I want to be. What do you say?”

Mari considered his words carefully. She asked, “What are you asking me exactly?”

He chuckled at the sly smile on her face. “You’re going to make me ask you?”

She nodded. “It’s only proper.”

“Fine, if you insist, we can do this the proper way. Mari McCabe, will you be my girlfriend?” Oliver asked.

Mari leaned up and kissed him softly. She nodded. “I guess so. I don’t have any other prospects right now.”

Oliver glared playfully. “You’re not nearly as amusing as you think yourself to be, Mari.”

“That is a lie. I am hilarious,” she replied airily.

He shook his head and went back to make their breakfast. “If you say so, Mari.”

Mari picked up her cooling cup of coffee and took a sip. She liked her coffee closer to room temperature much to Oliver’s horror. “I’m confused.”

Oliver poured the egg mixture into a frying pan and looked over his shoulder. He asked, “What are you confused about?”

“How does my being your girlfriend help you out with your day job problems?”

Oliver said, “Well, Thea has a two pronged plan. Prong one, she thought that I would be seen as more responsible if I was in a steady relationship. There have been rumors that my spotty attendance at city meetings and functions is because I have been depressed since Felicity ended our relationship.”

Mari wrinkled her nose and said, “Well, you are uncomfortably close to your mid thirties. I am sure it does raise a few eyebrows that you are unattached.”

He looked over his shoulder at Mari and scowled at her. “I am not anywhere near my mid-thirties. I only turned 30 last year.”

She laughed and shrugged at him, “Well, you’re still ancient to me.”

Oliver turned the off the eggs and stalked across the kitchen. “I’ll show ancient.”

Mari hopped down off the counter. “Be careful, Grandpa. I wouldn’t want you to break a hip.”

He was across the kitchen in mere seconds. He lifted Mari off her feet and carried her into the bedroom.

She laughed and kicked her legs. “Put me down, Oliver! You’re cooking breakfast.”

Oliver tossed Mari onto the bed and was on her in moments. He kissed her passionately and then he said, “It can wait. I need to teach you a lesson.”

Mari’s eyes were shining as she looked up at Oliver. “You never told me what the second prong was.”

He stopped in the middle of pulling off his pajama pants. “Is that really what you want to ask me right now?”

She laughed at the dumbfounded expression on his face. She wriggled in the bed to take off her panties. “Not really. You can tell me later. I wouldn’t want you to lose your steam, Grandpa.”

“Oh, I am going to make you regret that,” he whispered against her ear.

Mari shivered and replied, “Promises, promises.”

Oliver moved between Mari’s legs and pulled her into a kiss. “I always keep my promises,” he growled against her lips.

She gasped as Oliver slid into her.

“What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you,” Oliver teased. He snapped his hips forward. He smiled smugly at the strangle cry he drew out of Mari.

Oliver’s phone started ringing on the nightstand. However, they both ignored it. The city could do without the Mayor and the Green Arrow for a little longer.

However, a few minutes later someone started knocking at the front door. “Ollie! I know that you are here. I used the tracking app I put on your phone. Open the door.”

Oliver groaned and rested his forehead against Mari’s shoulder. “My sister is persistent. She’s not going to leave until we let her in.”

Mari sighed deeply. “Get off me.”

He pecked her lips and got off the bed. Oliver searched for his pajama bottoms and then pulled them on. “I’m sorry. I’ll make this up to you.”

Mari said, “You bet your ass that you will. Go answer the door for your sister while I put on some clothes.”

Oliver kissed her again and then closed the door as he walked out of the bedroom. He opened the door and frowned at his younger sister. “What are you doing here, Thea? I thought we were going to meet at the office.”

The younger girl brushed past Oliver carrying a to-go tray of coffees, a take-out bag from a local diner, and her attaché case. She said, “Well, I know that you take your sweet time coming in on Saturday mornings. I decided that we should just have our meeting here. I brought coffee and food so that we can have a working breakfast. Where’s Mari?”

Oliver loved his sister but sometimes she grated on his nerves—this was one of those moments. He closed the front door and then followed Thea into the living room. “Mari is in the bedroom. She will be out here in a minute. I really wish that you would have called first, Speedy.”

Thea put the coffees and take out bag on the dining table. She said, “I did call first, Ollie. You ignored my call.”

“I mean that you showed have called before you were already at the front door,” he clarified.

She was looking down at her phone. Oliver’s new approval ratings were in and they weren’t good. “What does it matter? It’s not as if you were busy.”

Oliver scrubbed a hand over his head and frowned. “Not the point, Speedy.”

Thea looked up from her phone and asked, “Were you busy?”

He cleared his throat. “In a manner of speaking…”

“What does that even mean?” However, Thea looked up from her phone again as realization washed over her. “Ewww, Ollie!”

Oliver chuckled and walked into the kitchen to throw away the started and then forgotten frittata on the stove. “Well, you asked.”

“Well, next time lie to me,” Thea said with a huff.

Mari walked out of the room a few minutes later wearing shorts and a t-shirt. She smiled. “Hi, Thea.”

“Good morning. Sorry that I interrupted…” Thea said with obvious distaste in her voice.

Oliver walked out of the kitchen and stopped by the dining table to kiss Mari. “I am going to go get dressed. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Mari smiled at him. It was the first time he had shown her affection in front of everyone. “Good idea.”

He pointed at his sister. “Be nice, Thea.”

The girl yelled at her brother’s retreating figure, “I am always nice, Ollie.”

Mari chuckled at the siblings as she opened the balcony doors. Her apartment was close enough to the harbor that she could smell the salt water. She sat down at the dining table and then pulled her hair into a ponytail.

Thea said, “Oh!” She began removing Styrofoam containers from the take out bag. “I brought coffee and breakfast. I didn’t really know what you would like from the diner so I just ordered the lumberjack platter.”

Mari accepted one of the takeout containers. “Thank you, Thea. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Well, I figured I owed you for barging in on your morning like this. Besides, Ollie gets cranky without coffee.”

Mari laughed quietly. “What brings you by this morning?”

Thea had a seat across from Mari. “Well, my brother’s approval rating has taken a few hits over the last couple of months. Ollie is not great at being places on time and it’s starting to wear thin with people. They think that he’s fallen into a depression. I mean our family has had a difficult few years and Oliver has had some very public tragedies of his own. We need to rebuild the city’s trust in Oliver if he intends to hold onto the office. Has he talked to you about my suggestions?”

Mari opened the take-out container and smiled at the contents. It wouldn’t be the same as the yummy frittata that Oliver would have cooked for them. However, Mari wasn’t picky as long as she didn’t have to cook. She was capable of cooking but just didn’t enjoy it the way that Oliver did. “We talked about Oliver’s image problem. He mentioned that you thought having a girlfriend would make him look more stable.”

“And…”Thea said. She hoped that her brother had bit the bullet and properly asked Mari to be his girlfriend. However, she knew from watching Oliver’s last relationship disaster that communicating was not his strong suit.

Oliver walked into the room. “And I asked Mari to be my girlfriend.”

“I agreed,” Mari added.

He had a seat beside Mari and grabbed one the cups of coffee. “I hadn’t gotten around to the second part of your ingenious plan.”

“Your sarcasm isn’t welcome, Ollie. This is a big deal. Have you seen the headlines?” Thea asked.

Mari’s eyebrows furrowed because the headlines were getting worse by the day. Oliver might not pay attention to them but she did. People were wondering if the city hadn’t made a hasty decision by giving Oliver the job. They didn’t think that he was taking his position as mayor seriously. If only Star City knew just how much Oliver did for all of them by day and night. Mari decided to end the stalemate between the siblings. “How can I help, Thea?”

“Well, the Fireman’s Ball is coming up next Saturday night. I was thinking that you could go with Ollie as his date. There’s a lot of press surrounding the event and all of Star City’s power players will be in attendance. I might even be able to arrange for a puff piece in next Sunday’s edition of the _Sentinel_.”

Oliver frowned. He wasn’t sure about forcing Mari into the spotlight like that. He was hoping to ease her into the three-ring circus. “I don’t know, Thea…”

Mari smiled at Thea. “If you really think that this will help repair Oliver’s image, then I am in. Just tell me what I have to do.”

“Mari…” Oliver tried to interject.

She shook her head. “You’re not going to talk me out of this, Oliver. I want to help you save your city. I’ve been helping you do that for months, at least I’ll get to wear a dress this time around.”

Thea grinned. “Well, if you are really on board with this, there is an event tomorrow that you could attend with Oliver. Oliver is supposed to attend the opening of a community garden. It’s part of his green spaces initiative. It would make a great photo op.”

“That sounds great to me. What time is the event tomorrow?” Mari asked. She felt relaxed enough to eat breakfast. Mari had been worried that Thea didn’t really approve of the relationship. However, that obviously wasn’t the case.

“Oh, it’ll be at 2 o’clock,” Thea replied after checking the time on her phone.

“What should I wear? What are we going to be doing there? Will I have to plant anything?”

Thea said, “Oliver will say a few words and cut a ribbon. There will be a lot of hand shaking and pictures taken. You might have to eat a tomato or a pepper that was grown in the garden. Wardrobe is an interesting question. We can raid your closet to see if you have anything. If not we can always go through my closet. I think we’re about the same size. Now your dress for the Fireman’s Ball we have more time to find. You would look amazing in autumn colors. I know a designer that has the most amazing dresses. They are all couture and he is very selective about who wears his pieces. I bet he would be willing to style you for the Fireman’s Ball. Members of the press will be covering the red carpet so you will have to look your best.”

Mari winced. “Looks like I might need to make a salon appointment sometime this week.”

“Are you busy Saturday morning? I can schedule a spa day for both of us. We can get everything waxed, plucked, and painted before the ball on Saturday night.”

Oliver just stared at the two women as they went back and forth. No one had thought to consult him about any of this. He realized that in a span of a few minutes he had gone from having a week to little more than 24 hours to tell Felicity that he was dating Mari.


	2. Double Dates

**Star City**

 

Oliver folded his arms over his chest as he rode the elevator up to Felicity’s office at Palmer Tech. He wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation with his ex-fiancé. Oliver hadn’t lied to Mari when he told her that he was ready to move on with his life. However, that didn’t make it any easier to talk to Felicity about it.

No matter how their relationship ended, he still loved her. In the beginning, he didn’t enjoy seeing Felicity with her new boyfriend. He could even admit that he was jealous. However, he was able to let go of that jealousy after seeing how happy she was with Billy. Oliver was mature enough to understand that sometimes loving someone wasn’t enough to make a relationship last.

Since their breakup, Oliver and Felicity had worked hard to maintain a delicate balance. In the immediate aftermath, Felicity had been angry with him. However, the anger slowly cooled into acceptance. Acceptance of Oliver’s choices even if she didn’t approve of them. Acceptance of the fact that perhaps they weren’t meant to be. That acceptance allowed Felicity and Oliver to continue working together while saving the city and the world at large from Darhk’s apocalyptic plans. Now they worked together at night to keep Star City safe from criminals and the growing number of vigilantes.

He stepped off the elevator and walked to Felicity’s office. He wasn’t surprised to find her studying something intently behind her desk. She was just as busy as Oliver was these days. They rarely had time to see one another if it wasn’t about Green Arrow business. However, they made time every week to have lunch—it was what friends did. He knocked on the glass door to draw Felicity’s attention.

The blonde-haired woman looked up and smiled brightly at Oliver. She beckoned him into her office and stood up. “Did we have an appointment I forgot about? I have been a little scatterbrained this week. We’re rolling out Curtis’s new product and it has consumed my every waking moment.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry for just barging in on you like this. I decided to take a chance and just dropped by unannounced. I was hoping that I could steal a few minutes so that we can talk about something important.”

She wrinkled her nose and said, “Oh, no. You have your putting arrows into people face on. What is going on, Oliver? Have a seat.”

Oliver laughed as he sat down in a chair in front of her desk. “Well, it’s not as serious as that. This city is as safe as it usually is—which admittedly isn’t very much. This matter is of a personal nature and it is time-sensitive.”

Felicity walked around the desk to sit beside Oliver. “Okay. I’m all yours. What’s going on?”

He decided that it was better to treat this revelation like a band-aid. The mayor said, “Well, I just wanted to let you know that I am dating someone.”

Felicity stared at Oliver for a moment because that was not what she was expecting to hear from him. However, she quickly recovered and made sure that her face was neutral. “Okay…”

He cleared his throat. “I’m sure that you don’t care. I am only bringing it up because you will probably hear about it on the news tomorrow evening. I am taking my girlfriend to one of the Green Spaces events. The press will be there and they are bound to make a big deal out of it. She will be the first person that I’ve been out with publically since…we broke up.”

Felicity was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the concept. She didn’t think that Oliver would take a random woman to something so public. He wasn’t the reckless playboy she read about before the Queen’s Gambit went down. However, she didn’t see how he could have had a girlfriend for any significant length of time. Surely, Felicity would have noticed if there was a new woman in his life. They worked together every night with Mari McCabe and occasionally Lyla lent a hand if they were really in a crisis.

Oliver studied Felicity’s face with a quiet intensity as she processed his news. This wasn’t how he wanted to tell her about Mari. However, the situation had gotten away from him this morning. Thea and Mari had put their heads together over breakfast and started making plans while he sat there mute and a little dumbfounded.

When he left the apartment, the girls were working out an altered back-story for an interview Oliver and Mari would have to give in a few days. He had decided to shower and get out of their way. He spent a couple of hours at city hall catching up on work he had missed during the week. Then he decided it was time to bite the bullet and talk to Felicity.

Felicity finally found her voice. She asked, “How long have you been seeing this woman?”

He was caught off guard by Felicity’s question. Oliver adjusted his wristwatch and replied, “We’ve been seeing each other for a few months. However, we didn’t decide to go public until this morning. Thea thought it made sense from a PR standpoint. I need all the goodwill I can get from my constituents right now. Besides, I have been spending most of my nights at her apartment. Someone was bound to catch wind of it sooner or later.”

“So this is a political maneuver of some sort? I hope you’re not using this girl, Oliver,” Felicity replied in a disapproving voice. She had seen the headlines about his dwindling support.

Felicity had offered to team up with Oliver and the city for a technology initiative. Palmer Tech would be improving the science and computers labs at two underprivileged schools in the Glades. However, that project wouldn’t be announced for a few weeks. Felicity and Oliver wanted the work completed over Winter Break. It would be a great way for the students to start the back half of the school year.

“No, I wouldn’t do that to her.” he said firmly. He shook his head. “I was seeing her long before I had need of positive PR. We just didn’t decide to make our relationship public knowledge until Thea suggested it. You know she is my advisor and she thought that I needed to look less like a bachelor. I trust her judgment because Thea is better with handling all of that than I am. I don’t care about the headlines as long as I am taking care of my city. But Thea has convinced me that I can’t take care of them as mayor if they don’t trust me.”

A light bulb went on in her head. She asked, “Thea knew about your girlfriend?”

Oliver nodded. “Yes, but it’s not because I told her. Thea stumbled across some, uh private correspondence on my phone. Anyway, I just didn’t want you to be blindsided by the news. We will be going to tomorrow’s event together. We are also going to the Fireman’s Ball next weekend.”

Felicity tensed because she would be attending the same ball next Saturday. “Do I know this woman that you’ve been dating?

Oliver realized that he had been avoiding saying Mari’s name. He said, “I’ve been dating Mari. We started dating not long after she moved here from Detroit.”

It felt as if a ton of bricks had fallen from the sky. Felicity couldn’t believe how blind she had been for the last five months. There had been little signs along the way but she ignored them. Felicity assumed that Oliver was only mentoring Mari the way he had with Roy and Barry. However, in hindsight she could see that Oliver and Mari’s relationship was different.

They had been getting closer but she thought it was because life had changed so drastically for the vigilante. Laurel died and Oliver’s team had scattered in the aftermath of defeating Damien Darhk. Felicity thought Oliver’s closeness with Mari was just about filling the void left by the people no longer in his life. She could not have known how true that was until now.

In a quiet voice, Oliver said, “Felicity…”

She snapped out of her thoughts. “Why did you feel as if you needed to hide this from me for months, Oliver? I thought that we were friends.”

“We are friends, Felicity. You are one of my best friends. This thing with Mari was unexpected. I didn’t plan for it to happen or for it to become serious and neither did she. We realized that we had a connection but being public would have invited scrutiny and I wasn’t ready for that. I already had one relationship implode publicly. I didn’t want to put myself or Mari in that position. I also didn’t want to make her a target for my enemies. Not after what Darhk did to you.”

Felicity sighed but she understood his point. Their relationship, engagement, and breakup had been fodder for the tabloids. The rags still printed the occasional article whenever they were spotted in public together. She also knew that Oliver still blamed himself for her paralysis. He blamed himself for Laurel’s death. He blamed himself for the struggles Thea had after the Lazarus Pit. After all this time, he was still the type of man that took responsibility for things he had no way of controlling. He just didn’t let it plunge him into darkness any longer. Oliver didn’t push people away to protect them from the danger threatening him. He just did his best to protect them.

“Are you happy?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, I think that I am. Mari is good for me. She doesn’t let me take myself so seriously.” Oliver said, “Listen, I’m sorry to spring this on you out of the blue. I just didn’t want you to be blindsided by the news tomorrow. I will get out of your hair. I am sure you have a lot that you need to do. Good luck with your product’s roll out. I’m sure that it will be a success. You’re doing an amazing job here, Felicity.”

Felicity watched as Oliver walked toward the door. “Oliver…”

He turned around with his hand resting on the door. “Yeah?”

“I’m happy for you,” she said. It was what Oliver said to her when she began dating Billy Malone. She didn’t believe him at the time but Felicity had appreciated that he was trying to make things normal between them. She owed their friendship the same effort.

“Thank you, Felicity,” he replied.

“Maybe we could all get together for dinner sometime soon,” she said. Felicity immediately wanted to slap herself. Why did she say something so stupid? That would be an awkward dinner from hell.

He smiled. “I’d like that. I’ll talk to Mari about it.”

Oliver walked out of the office and ran a frustrated hand over his head. That was not how he envisioned that conversation going. However, Oliver had learned that he was not very good at predicting how women would react to things. Honestly, he wasn’t good at predicting how other men would react in emotional situations. Oliver was pragmatic and goal-oriented. He had a one-track mind where most things were concerned. However, he understood that not everyone was built that way.

He walked onto the elevator and headed down to the parking garage where his town car was waiting. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to convince the city council that he didn’t need a chauffeur and security detail. Oliver could understand their apprehension considering what had happened to the previous mayors. Over the last five years, the city had not exactly had a great track record of keeping their mayors alive.

It wasn’t as if Oliver could decline the offer of protection by telling the city council that he was capable of taking care of himself. Now when he needed to get away from prying eyes he had to leave via rooftops. It reminded Oliver of when he first returned to Starling City and his mother hired bodyguards to shadow him for his _protection_.

When he walked into the parking garage, his driver climbed out of the car and opened the back door for him. “Where would you like to go next, Mr. Queen?”

Oliver climbed into the car. “The florist, please. The one on Union and First, Noah.”

The older man nodded, “Of course, sir.”

Noah closed Oliver’s door and walked around to the driver’s side of the car.

Oliver figured flowers might help Mari forgive him for agreeing to dinner with Felicity and Detective Malone. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why he agreed to such a silly proposition. Neither Oliver nor Felicity really wanted to break bread together with their new significant others. It would no doubt be an awkward affair. He was certain that Felicity blurted it out by accident because she was nervous. He was always amused by the things she said when she was nervous.

However, to use a term Thea was so fond of now, the optics of him saying ‘no’ wouldn’t have been good. It would appear that he was being petty or worse vindictive. He also didn’t want to give Mari the impression that he was only in this for the publicity. Felicity was part of both their lives. They would have to find a way to make this work.

He took out his phone and studied the multitude of messages he had missed while in Felicity’s office. The majority of the messages were from Thea. His sister was always sending him messages about work. Oliver gave Thea grief for her relentless drive. However, she was a lifesaver and the best partner he could hope for as mayor. Every year it seemed that he learned more about his sister. In quiet moments, he couldn’t help but think their parents would be incredibly proud of the woman Thea had become.

Oliver had replied to the majority of the messages by the time his car reached to the florist shop. He climbed out of the car without waiting for Noah. He knew the former Special Forces member would follow him into the shop for protection.

Once inside, Oliver looked over some of the samples and pre-prepared arrangements on display. He didn’t actually know what Mari’s favorite flowers were. However, she frequently wore a fragrance that smelled of jasmine, gardenias, and orange blossoms. Oliver was going to take his chances and hope he got an A for effort.

The shop’s owner was a gray-haired older woman. She had known the Queen family well over the years. Moira had been a loyal customer anytime they needed floral arrangements for a function. She smiled brightly at the young man. “Good afternoon, Mayor Queen.”

He smiled and said, “You’ve known me since I was a boy, Mrs. Reyes, you can just call me Oliver.”

“Well, if we are going to be so informal, then you can just call me Marisol. How can I help you today?”

Oliver said, “I need an arrangement for my girlfriend. It needs to be impressive.”

The older woman chuckled quietly. “Are these an apology or a declaration?”

“I’m afraid it is a little of both, Marisol. I don’t want roses because she doesn’t like them. I am hoping that you have gardenias, orange blossoms, and jasmine on hand. She wears a perfume that features those notes. I figured that she might at least like smelling the arrangement even if she doesn’t like the flowers,” he explained.

Marisol looked impressed by his attention to detail. “I have the perfect arrangement in mind. Do you need the flowers now?”

“No, I was hoping that you can have them delivered to her apartment tonight. Is that too soon?”

“Not for you, Oliver,” she replied. She took out an order form and jotted down all of the information. Then she slid it across the counter to Oliver. “Just fill in her name and address. I’ll make sure your lady receives her flowers before 7 o’clock.”

Oliver smiled as he picked up the pen and filled in the required information. Afterwards, he handed the older woman his credit card. “Thank you, Marisol. You are a life saver.”

Marisol rang up Oliver’s purchase and then swiped his credit card. She handed him the card, the receipt, and a copy of the invoice. “Your business is always appreciated. I’m sure your girlfriend will love the flowers.”

“I hope that she will. Thank you again, Marisol. Have a good day.”

“You, too,” she replied as the younger man walked out of the store.

Oliver unbuttoned his suit jacket as he walked out of the flower shop. He glanced at Noah as he got ready to climb into the town car once more. However, he stopped short recognizing the man’s smirk.

“Was there something you wanted to say, Noah?”

His smile widened. “Can I take this to mean that I no longer have to pretend that I don’t know that you walk three blocks over to Miss McCabe’s building after I drop off at home?”

Oliver’s blue eyes widened for just a moment and then he chuckled. “Yes, you can just drop me off in front of her building now.”

“Very good sir,” Noah replied in an amused voice. He waited until Oliver was in the car and then closed the door.

The first time Noah caught Oliver sneaking off was by accident. He was walking around the side of Oliver’s building to ensure the fire exit was secure. The previous day he had caught some youngsters using the door to leave the building. The door needed to be locked at all times as a matter of safety. The only other way into the building was the front entrance and it was monitored by video surveillance. Noah had been surprised to find his charge sneaking out the fire exit wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap, and a pair of sunglasses.

Noah had followed Oliver out of curiosity and duty. However, he soon learned that his boss wasn’t in danger. He was in love. That was well over two months ago but he had never said a word to Oliver. He figured that his employer had his reasons for the secrecy.


	3. Blinded

**Star City**

 

Oliver’s jobs as the Green Arrow and the mayor of Star City didn’t leave him very much free time. It always took a bit of maneuvering to make date night possible. Tonight, Oliver and Mari were patrolling the Glades for a few hours before going back to her apartment. Their date nights usually consisted of Oliver cooking dinner and Mari picking a television show on Netflix that he absolutely hated. They were currently watching season three of The Vampire Diaries. In the beginning, she didn’t even like the show. Mari only chose it because Oliver had this unnatural hatred of all things vampire. However, now she loved the show and often compared him to the brooding character Stefan Salvatore.

Their date night plans for that evening didn’t deviate too drastically from their routine. The only real difference was that they were only patrolling the Glades for two hours. They would both have an early morning preparing for their first public appearance as a couple. Thea promised to drop by the apartment first thing in the morning to help Mari get ready. She also planned to quiz her on all of Oliver’s notable policies and initiatives. Reporters were bound to ask for her opinion about Oliver’s stint as mayor. Mari wanted to have answers based in fact instead of a boilerplate answer. She didn’t want to look vapid and uninformed. Mari truly believed in Oliver’s mission to save Star City from itself and outside threats.

After sparring at the Green Arrow cave, the couple had just enough time to go to the market before they needed to start their patrol. Mari looked to Oliver while they stood in line at the seafood counter. She asked, “Should we get mussels or littleneck clams for the paella?”

Oliver’s mind was elsewhere and he barely heard Mari. He looked at her and asked, “Did you say something?”

She lifted an eyebrow at his confusion and then studied his eyes for a moment. “Are you okay? This isn’t the first time you’ve been distracted tonight.”

He had gotten distracted while they were sparring and Mari rewarded him with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. It wasn’t the hardest he had ever been hit but the kick packed a wallop since he hadn’t been expecting it. He smiled. “I’m fine. You just rang my bell earlier. You are getting better with your kicks.”

She gave him a doubtful look. Mari wondered if he really expected her to believe that. She said, “I am getting better but you were distracted. There isn’t any other explanation for why you didn’t block the kick or at the very least counter the move. What’s going on?”

“Barry called me out of the blue this afternoon,” he said. Oliver thought back to their strange conversation and felt a familiar twinge in his gut. It was as if he had a sixth sense about when things were going to go topsy-turvy in their world. Honestly, they were probably due for some sort of cataclysmic event. It had been too quiet around Star City.

Mari’s eyebrows furrowed at that. She said, “Barry called me, too. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him because I was trying on outfits with Thea. She wanted to make sure that I had the right look for tomorrow. He didn’t leave a voicemail or anything. Is he okay?”

Oliver closed his eyes for a moment and said, “He tried to pretend as if he was just checking in on me but Barry is a terrible liar. There was something else going on with him. I tried to get him to tell me what was going on but he just rushed off the phone.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good. I could always call him back tonight. I meant to return his call but I got wrapped up in everything this afternoon,” she offered.

He shook his head. “No, I am going to call him back tonight. I was just heading to Palmer Tech to see Felicity when Barry called me. Maybe he sensed my mood. I was strategizing on how to talk to Felicity.”

“Well, just let me know if you want me to talk to Barry. I could also call Cisco. I’m sure he would know if there was something we needed to worry about in Central City,” she offered.

“We’ll hold that one back just in case I strike out with Barry. He can be stubborn when it comes to asking for help sometimes.” Oliver knew that was a bit like the pot calling the kettle black but he still worried about the speedster. Barry put too much pressure on himself.

“Okay.” Mari stepped forward as the customer in front of them walked away. She asked, “Do you want mussels or littleneck clams?”

Oliver said, “Both.”

She walked up to the seafood counter and smiled at the fishmonger. “Hi. I need a dozen each of littleneck clams and mussels. I also need a pound of jumbo shrimp, please.”

The older man nodded. “Coming right up.”

Mari turned to look at Oliver. “How did your talk with Felicity go?”

Oliver said, “At first, Felicity was hurt that I didn’t tell her the truth sooner. I guess it reminded her about how I handled the situation with William. I tried to explain that I didn’t tell anyone the truth because I didn’t want to share you with the rest of the world. I enjoyed the fact that we didn’t need to answer to anyone about what we were doing. I think we left it in a good place by the time the conversation was finished. She actually suggested that we go on a double date.”

Mari visibly relaxed. Oliver and Felicity were maintaining a delicate balance. She admired them both for their dedication to Star City. Mari didn’t know if she would be able to maintain that level of civility with any of her exes. Mari didn’t just burn bridges as she ended relationships, she usually nuked the damn thing so nothing could be built there for another 50 or so years. She smiled, “We’re so not doing that.”

He smirked and then chuckled deeply. “No, we’re definitely not doing that. Felicity was just trying to offer an olive branch. She wanted me to know that she’s okay with this even if I could have handled it better.”

“Felicity is really great. I hope this won’t make things weird between us. I really like being her friend,” Mari confessed.

Oliver took her hand and squeezed it gently. He said, “You have nothing to worry about, Mari. Felicity has always liked you. That isn’t going to change just because we are together now.”

The fishmonger returned with their order. He said, “You can pay for it upfront.”

Oliver took the seafood and said, “Thank you.”

They walked to the register at the front of the store and paid for their groceries. Afterwards they left the store and started walking to Mari’s apartment.

Oliver’s bodyguard, Noah, followed them on foot. However, he kept his distance to monitor for threats.

“How was your afternoon with my sister?”

Mari smiled. “I actually had a really good time with Thea. She gave me a crash course in everything I should know about your Green Spaces initiative. She also ran through your talking points for upgrading the 911-dispatch system in Star City. I already knew the basics but it was nice to have the full rundown.”

His eyebrows furrowed in concern. He asked, “Do you need to know all of that?”

“Thea thought that someone might ask me how I thought you were handling the role of mayor. We both thought it was better for me to have facts instead of just vaguely saying that you are doing a good job. I don’t want anyone thinking that I’m just your airhead girlfriend.”

Oliver squeezed her hand. “You could never be mistaken as an airhead, Mari.”

She smiled at him and said, “I’m a fashion columnist and a budding designer that is 8 years younger than you are. People are going to immediately start forming their own narrative about who I am and why we’re together.”

He groaned. “This is why I didn’t want to pull you into this craziness. I don’t want people judging your character or digging into your past. You shouldn’t have to put up with all of that just because you’re dating me.”

Mari stopped walking and turned to face Oliver. “I knew what I was getting into when I said yes to going public with our relationship, Oliver. But I won’t hold it against you if you have changed your mind.”

Oliver noted the way her voice dipped as she said the last part. It was as if she had expected him to change his mind. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line? What’s going on in that head of yours, Mari?”

She bit her lip and stared into his blue eyes. She sighed, “I was just wondering if you and Thea had really thought all of this through yet. You might need a stable relationship but maybe you don’t need it with me. Not everyone would see our relationship as a good thing.”

It took a moment for the vigilante to follow Mari’s train of thought. However, he was furious once he did. He cupped her cheek and said, “Race has never been a hang up for me, Mari. My very public past can attest to that fact. And if there are some prejudiced bastards in Star City that think less of me because I’m with you…then I don’t want their support anyway. I am proud to serve this city but they don’t get to dictate the people I choose to love.”

Mari didn’t know what to do with the intense look in Oliver’s eyes or declaration that almost certainly had to be accidental. Instead, she interlaced their fingers and started walking toward her building again. “I’m only going to make you watch one episode of The Vampire Diaries tonight,” she teased.

Oliver lips curved into a smirk as he walked with her. When they arrived at Mari’s building he turned to look at Noah. He said, “We’re staying in for the night. You can head home, Noah. Thank you.”

“Good night, Mr. Queen.” He inclined his head in Mari’s direction. “Good night, Miss McCabe.”

She smiled and said, “Good night.”

Oliver and Mari took the stairs up to her apartment. They put away the groceries and then headed up onto the roof. They jumped across several rooftops until they were a block away from Mari’s building. Afterward they walked the rest of the way to the Green Arrow Cave.

Felicity was already at her desk when they showed up. She spun around in the chair and said, “You guys are right on time. I was just about to call you.”

Oliver unzipped his leather jacket. “Do you have something?”

She nodded. “I’m getting reports of three metahumans having just robbed a diamond dealer. It just happened two minutes ago but they’re already on the move. I am trying to pull up surveillance cameras in the area to find out where they went.”

For months, they had known that there were metahumans living in Star City. Some of these metahumans were from Central City. Others seemingly had no connection to the other city. It left many questions about how metahumans were created. They were peaceful people just living their lives like everyone else and Oliver saw no reason to disturb them. However, knocking over a diamond dealer’s store was a bold opening move.

He asked, “Can you get Cisco on the phone, Felicity? We may need their help in stopping these people.”

She nodded. “I’ll make the call.” Felicity spun around in her chair and went back to pulling up surveillance footage near the diamond dealer’s store.

Oliver and Mari split up so that they could change into their disguises.

By the time they finished changing clothes Felicity had sent pictures of the three metahumans to their phones. She called over her shoulder. “I’ll pass on information about their powers as it comes in. Be careful…please.”

Mari nodded. “Thanks, Felicity.”

“You’re welcome.”

Oliver asked, “Do you know where they are headed now?”

Felicity said, “The last camera they passed was on East Washington Avenue.”

He grabbed his bow as he walked into the elevator. “They are heading into the Glades. Let’s go.”

Once they were outside, Mari and Oliver climbed onto their motorcycles. They sped toward the Glades with Felicity feeding information to them.

_ “I’ve been able to identify two of the metahumans. The first is named Roscoe Dillon and he’s definitely from Central City. Current members of the Rogues’ Gallery are listed as his known associates. He goes by the Top. Cisco’s database on metahumans says that his powers are spinning at superhuman speeds.” _

Oliver grunted. “That sounds like it will be fun to stop. What about the second metahuman?”

_ “The second metahuman is originally from Gotham. His name is Logan Buchanan but that’s probably an alias. His arrest record makes mention of the name Boneblaster. Wild guess…he breaks stuff. These guys were both dangerous even without their powers,” she added. _

The vigilante scowled as he considered how to stop a metahuman that could spin at superhuman speeds and someone with super strength. They had the ability canceling handcuffs that Cisco and Wells created for the criminals in their city. “Do you have anything on the third person?”

_ “No. Facial recognition isn’t finding any matches for him in any of the criminal databases but he looks young.” _

Mari asked, “How young are we talking, Overwatch?”

_ She replied, “He is probably in his early teens.” _

“Great,” Mari muttered.

Oliver had dealt with young criminals before. Usually they were just misguided youths. However, it was bad news that this kid was hanging out with two hard cases like Dillon and Buchanan. He pushed his motorcycle faster. They needed to get to the metahumans before their woefully unprepared police force stumbled across them.

_ “I was tracking them but they ducked into the warehouse district. Camera coverage is spotty in some areas and nonexistent in others. The two of you will essentially be going in there blind,” Felicity anxiously informed them. “I’m calling Lyla to have her on standby. This could go really bad.” _

“We’re not going to need her help,” Oliver insisted.

Mari said, “That’s a good idea, Overwatch.”

_ Felicity asked, “Ah…is that a yes or a no?” _

Oliver said, “No.”

Mari said, “Yes. I want to make sure we get that kid out of there in one piece.”

_ “I agree with Vixen. You’re outvoted, Arrow. I think I am going to make the call,” Felicity replied. _

As they made it to the warehouse district, Mari said, “We should split up. We can cover more ground that way.”

Oliver nodded at Mari. “Let me know if you see anything suspicious. This could be a trap…”

Mari gave a mock salute and then turned right into the row of warehouses. She found a good spot to tuck away her motorcycle and then started moving around on foot. She checked the entrances of the warehouses to make sure that they were locked up tight.

Periodically, Oliver and Mari checked in with each other. However, they hadn’t run into any sign of their thieves.

Felicity insisted that the three men hadn’t emerged from the warehouse district. They had to be hiding out somewhere. The only good news was that the SCPD were chasing their tails. They had no idea in which what direction he criminals had fled. Oliver and Mari didn’t have to worry about local law enforcement showing up and further complicating matters.

Thirty minutes in and Mari was beginning to grow impatient. However, she started smelling smoke in the air. Mari ducked behind the warehouse and peered into a dirt-covered window. She saw the two men and the teen sitting around a bonfire eating Big Belly Burger.

She moved away from the building. “I’ve got them. They are in an old snack cake factory on the south side. What’s your ETA?”

Oliver said, “I’m at the other end. It’ll be ten minutes on foot. I can’t risk my bike spooking them.”

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Mari replied. She crept around the building looking for an entry point. Bars covered most of the building’s windows. However, the front and rear entrances were unlocked. Mari hid in the shadows while she waited for Oliver. She took a minute to study the mugshots Felicity had sent of the two older men.

Oliver slipped behind the building nearly ten minutes later.

She said, “No one has left the building and the two doors are unlocked. How do you want to play this?”

“We’ll each take a door and go for one of the adult metahumans. Hopefully, we can subdue them before the kid gets over the initial shock.”

Mari nodded in agreement. “I’ll take the rear.”

Oliver nodded at her and moved around to the front of the building.

_ Once they were in position, Felicity started counting, “1…2…3” _

A blinding light burst forward as soon as the Green Arrow and Vixen breached the warehouse.


	4. It’s the Pits

** Star City **

****

Vixen’s first instinct was to panic after being blinded by the bright light. If this was a year ago, she probably would have retreated. However, months of training with Oliver had conditioned her to remain calm and to think critically. The explosion of light had compromised her sight but she had four other senses, a mystical totem, and a host of tech gadgets at her disposal. Immediately, she decided to level the playing field. Mari took an EMP bomb from her utility belt and tossed it into the air. She whispered into the comms, “Get down, Green Arrow. I’m going to use the EMP. We might go dark, Overwatch.”

Oliver hit the deck with a grunt just as the bomb exploded in midair. The explosive charge was merely a noisy distraction. He hoped that the explosion would make the metahumans take cover. However, disrupting all the electrical components in the warehouse was the electromagnetic pulse’s actual purpose. A few seconds later, he heard the glass bulbs bursting overhead as the EMP plunged the warehouse into darkness. Oliver’s sight was still marred by splotches of bright light. However, he could see well enough to start moving around the warehouse to find their metahumans. He whispered, “Be careful of the teenager. I think he’s a metahuman, too.”

_ Felicity sighed in relieve when she heard Oliver’s gruff voice. They had never field-tested their communication system and the EMP bomb simultaneously. There had been a 50-50 chance that she would lose contact with Oliver and Mari. She gushed in excitement, “I could kiss Cisco on the mouth right now for creating comms that can withstand an electromagnetic pulse. I mean not that I would kiss him because you know I am with Billy and we’re really happy. I mean not that anything is wrong with kissing Cisco. I bet he’s a great kisser. Have you seen his lips? They look like soft pillows. Not that I spend too much time looking at Cisco’s lips because that would be weird.” _

Oliver bit back his amusement at Felicity’s rambling. He left his hiding place cautiously and crept around a stack of wooden crates. He whispered, “Overwatch!”

_ “I’m sorry. Shutting up now, Arrow.” _

Vixen touched the totem around her neck and channeled the spirit of a bat. Her eyes were still adjusting and she wasn’t as skilled when fighting in the dark as Oliver was. However, a bat’s ability to use echolocation would come in handy now. She closed her eyes and let the totem adjust her senses. Mari opened her mouth and emitted an inhuman screech. The sounds waves rippled across the warehouse and bounced off objects. The sound waves bounced off the items and informed her of everything’s size, shape, and location within the warehouse. Soon she could picture a vague approximation of the warehouse’s layout. She let out another screech to refine the details a little more. “Boneblaster is headed right toward you, Arrow. Looks like Top is taking the kid outside with him. I’m headed out there!”

“Be careful, Vixen. We don’t know what other powers the kid has. You have to consider that he might not need to be rescued. He may be an equal partner in all of this,” he replied gruffly. He shot several arrows at Boneblaster.

She replied, “Even if he is helping them willingly, he’s not old enough to be considered an equal partner.”

Boneblaster batted away the majority of the arrows that Oliver fired at him. One arrow did manage to spear his beefy bicep. However, it was merely a minor inconvenience because of his altered physiology. Boneblaster slammed his fits onto the ground. The concrete split and cracked for several feet in every direction and the walls of the warehouse shook from the impact.

Green Arrow jumped out of the way as the concrete buckled beneath his feet. He hoped that his experience fighting Mirakuru soldiers would pay off here. He grunted as a chunk of concrete whizzed by his head. He said, “This should be fun.”

Boneblaster ran toward Oliver at full speed. “You walked right into our trap, Green Arrow. Honestly, I didn’t believe Dillon when he said it would be this easy.”

Oliver muttered a few choice curses under his breath. It was never a good feeling to learn that you had played into your adversaries’ hands. He dodged out of Boneblaster’s way and fired a few tranquilizer darts at him.

“We’re going to run this city once you are out of the way.” Boneblaster let out a frustrated shout when one of the tranquilizers plunged into his neck. It wasn’t enough to knock him out but it did slow him down somewhat. “What did you do to me?” he slurred.

_ Felicity said, “I can’t reach Vixen on comms. I don’t know what happened but I’ve lost contact with her. Lyla and I are on our way there.” _

Oliver’s blood ran cold as all of the scenarios flicked through his mind rapidly. Mari had believed that the teenager needed to be rescued but it could have turned out to be two against one once they were out of the warehouse. “What did you hear before the connection died?”

_ “I heard a splash. I think she fell into the harbor,” Felicity replied. _

Oliver growled and fired several more tranquilizers at Boneblaster while he dodged the man’s heavy fists. He had no doubt that one super powered blow would break his bones or worse. For now, he would just have to keep evading the thief’s reach. There was no shame in simply running your opponent ragged until he was weakened and tired. However, he needed to subdue this metahuman sooner rather than later so that he could go looking for Mari.

The massive metahuman could only swat away one of the darts because his reflexes were slower now.  The other three tranquilizers embedded themselves in his arm, thigh, and chest. The building shook when he dropped to his knees. Then he blinked rapidly trying to keep his eyes open but he knew it was a losing battle.

Oliver jumped into the air and kicked Boneblaster in the head with both feet.

The powerful double kick knocked the man unconscious and he collapsed onto broken concrete floor.

The Green Arrow rushed forward and put the power cancelling cuffs around Boneblaster’s wrists. He didn’t know for how long a man of that size would be unconscious even with all of the tranquilizers swimming through his system but he hoped it was long enough for the police to get there. Thanks to Barry and STAR Labs the SCPD now had the means to transport metahumans safely. “Boneblaster is down and restrained. Call the police. I am going to look for Vixen now.”

_ “The SCPD are on the way. Be careful. I’ve already lost track of one person tonight,” Felicity ordered in a voice thick with emotion. _

Oliver emerged from the warehouse cautiously and surveyed his surroundings. He could see the damage caused by Dillon’s powers. Fortunately, it literally left a trail of debris for him to follow along the docks. He kept his eyes open for any sign of Mari or the metahuman teenager. The kid was a wild card because they didn’t know his affiliation or the extent of his powers. Oliver had no interest in hurting a child but he also wouldn’t make the mistake of assuming that he was a harmless victim.

He had walked approximately three hundred yards from the warehouse when Mari and the kid came into view. His head whipped around looking for the Top but the metahuman was nowhere to be found. Into the comms, Oliver said, “I’ve found her…she’s injured.”

The lanky boy couldn’t be more than 13 or 14 years old. He was soaking wet and shivering as he feverishly performed CPR on Mari.

Oliver ran over to them. He ground out, “What happened?”

The hazel-eyed boy looked up at Oliver with tears in his eyes. “I pulled her out of the water. No one was supposed to get hurt. Roscoe promised that he wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

Oliver dropped to his knees beside them and took over performing CPR on Mari. He stopped to check her pulse but didn’t find one. He compressed her chest harder and then forced a breath into her mouth. “Come on! Don’t do this. How long was she in the water?”

“I don’t know. Roscoe knocked her out before he threw her into the water. I jumped in after her but I couldn’t find her for the a long time. The water was so dark and cold,” the boy replied as his teeth chattered.

Oliver tried not to think about how long Mari had been in the water. He wasn’t willing to give up on her. The faces of all the people that he had already lost haunted him day and night. He was always left wishing that he had done more or made different choices. Oliver couldn’t stand to lose another person and certainly not like this. He increased the strength of the chest compressions until he felt Mari’s ribs buckle underneath the force.

Mari started spitting up water and blood. Afterwards, her breaths came out in ragged gasps. However, her eyes remained closed.

Oliver felt a sense of relief wash over him.

The boy beside him said, “You did it. You saved her! She’s going to be okay, right?”

The masked vigilante looked at the kid’s hopeful face and just nodded. Mari wasn’t okay but she would be. He would make sure that she was okay. He said, “You should get out of here, kid. The police will be here soon. Go home.”

He sniffled and looked around as if unsure what to do. He whispered, “I live in the warehouse.”

Oliver was checking Mari’s pulse. It was steady but weak right now. However, he looked at the boy in concern. “You’ve been living in the warehouse with Dillon and Buchanan? Where are your parents?”

The boy recognized that tone of voice. People always used that tone of voice before they called social services. He stumbled to his feet and tried to run but his limbs were sluggish from swimming in the cold water.

Oliver’s hand shot out and grabbed the kid’s arm. “Where are you parents?”

He struggled to get out of Oliver’s grasp. “I’m not going back! You can’t make me!”

Oliver noticed the way that the boy trembled. He said, “I am not sending you anywhere. I’m just trying to figure out where your parents are. You can’t stay with people like Dillon and Buchanan. They’re dangerous and they can’t be trusted. You said that Dillon promised not to hurt anyone but you see what he did to Vixen. He even let you jump into that water alone. You could have died going after her. These people are bad news.”

He stopped struggling and sobbed, “I…I don’t have parents. My mom died when the particle accelerator blew up in Central City. I was living on the streets when Roscoe found me. He takes care of me.”

The older man didn’t have time to make sense of the boy’s blubbered words because Lyla was speeding in their direction. He made the decision to take the kid with him. He could figure out what to do with him later. Oliver scooped up Mari’s unconscious body.

Felicity flung open the van’s cargo doors while Lyla sat behind the wheel. “How bad is it?”

Oliver climbed into the van with Mari in his arms. He laid her on the floor and replied, “It’s not good. She went into the water and was down there for awhile.”

The blonde executive looked toward the boy standing nervously in the distance.

Oliver followed her gaze and waved him forward. “Come on.”

The boy looked uncertain.

Oliver sighed, “Don’t make me chase you. I am not going to turn you over to the police but you can’t stay here. And I need to get Vixen some help.”

The boy climbed into the van reluctantly. “I thought that you said that she was okay.”

“She will be,” he replied. Oliver closed the van doors and said, “Let’s go!”

Lyla sped away from the scene. They knew from the police radio that the SCPD were close to the warehouse district. It wouldn’t be good for them to be discovered there. “I can get us to the cave in about ten minutes. Hold on back there. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

Oliver’s jaw clenched as he looked at Mari’s ashen complexion. He wrapped a blanket around her body. “Change of plans, Lyla. Take us to the pit.”

Felicity looked surprised. Oliver had refused to use the Lazarus Pit that they uncovered under the city after defeating Darhk. In the past, the only reason he went there was to ensure it remained undisturbed. Oliver had even enlisted Felicity’s help in equipping the underground cavern with a state of the art surveillance system. They both received alerts if anyone was within 100 yards of the cavern.

Lyla shared a look with Felicity before said, “Okay. I’ll turn around.”

Felicity grabbed a blanket and handed it to the young man. “Here wrap up in this. You must be freezing.”

“I’ll crank up the heat,” Lyla added.

The boy wrapped the blanket around his shivering body. However, his eyes remained trained on Vixen’s masked face. It was his fault that Roscoe was able to get the drop on her.

“What’s your name?” Felicity asked.

The boy looked at her with uncertainty.

She could see that he was getting a little squirrely. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. Are you hurt anywhere?”

He shook his head.

Felicity asked, “Are you hungry? We have some snacks in here somewhere.”

He wanted to say no but he was hungry. They hadn’t been able to finish eating dinner before the Green Arrow and Vixen arrived. He nodded slowly.

She smiled brightly and twisted around to grab their snack basket. She hauled the basket forward and pushed it toward the boy. “Take whatever you want.”

He picked out a bag of chips and a sports’ drink. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Lyla drove down into the cavern as far as the van could go.

Oliver glanced at the boy and then looked at Felicity. “Call Quentin.”

Felicity nodded in understanding

Oliver opened the cargo doors and climbed out. He picked up Mari and started walking toward the Lazarus Pit.

The Lazarus Pit underneath Star City was a small underground lake. He slowly walked into the water while carrying Mari bridal style. Oliver reluctantly submerged her into the water and waited anxiously.

Felicity and Lyla had both climbed out of the van and were watching from the shore.

Several minutes passed before Mari’s head broke the surface of the water. Her eyes were stretched wide open and she was panting to catch her breath. She looked around at her surroundings in confusion. Then she choked out, “What happened?”

Oliver grunted, “A lot…”

Mari’s breathing slowly returned to normal. “Did I die?”

He shook his head. “No, but you got close…too close.”


	5. Love Is In Bloom

**Star City**

 

Oliver tore his eyes away from his phone when he realized that Mari had been silent since they left her apartment. He put his hand on her knee to stop it from bouncing in anxiety. He was worried that she was still reeling from last night’s trauma. He had suggested that she stay home but Mari had vehemently rejected the idea. Oliver leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Mari pulled her brown eyes away from the window and looked at Oliver. She shook her head. “It’s nothing, Oliver. I’m just nervous. I have never really cared about making a good impression on anyone before. Now I am going to be in front of a bunch of reporters and your constituents. They won’t just be judging me. They’ll be judging you, too.”

He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her.

She pulled back and said, “You can’t kiss me on the lips. Thea will kill you if you smudge my makeup.”

Oliver rested his head against the seat with an exasperated grin. Mari was right about that. Thea had put them both through a boot camp that morning. She wanted to ensure that they were the picture of perfection. 

“Fine, I will keep my lips to myself until later. But you have nothing to worry about. This city has seen me at my worst most self-destructive self and they still wanted me to be mayor. I once urinated on a police car. There are surveillance photos to commemorate that auspicious occasion. Do you plan on urinating on any cop cars today?”

Mari laughed and said, “No, I think that I will be able to control myself.”

He kissed her temple. “Then you will be fine. We’ll go and I will say a few words painstakingly edited by my amazing little sister. The press will take a few pictures and toss some softball questions at me. And no matter what happens, I will be right there with you.”

She leaned over and kissed him softly. “You are amazing, Oliver Queen.”

Oliver cupped her cheek. “I thought that I couldn’t kiss you under penalty of death.”

She shrugged. “It’s your death, not mine.”

“It’s worth it.”

Mari asked, “Have you talked to Quentin this morning?”

Oliver wasn’t surprised that she was thinking about the boy from last night. He had saved her life. “He’s okay, Mari. We’re going to find the kid’s relatives. In the meantime, Quentin and Donna are happy to have him at their house.”

“How are we going to find his family if he won’t even tell us his name?” she asked.

“Felicity is already running his face against the database for Missing and Exploited Children. She also called Iris to ask for help. Iris is going to look into all the deaths linked to the explosion of particle accelerator. If he’s telling the truth about his mother dying in the accident, then we might be able to learn his identity that way.”

Mari nodded but didn’t seem too encouraged. She just wanted to check on the boy but she couldn’t do that and still maintain her secret identity.

The SUV came to a stop in front of the Blossom Hills Community Garden. Noah climbed out of the car and walked around to open Oliver’s door.

The press were already waiting and began snapping photos as soon as Oliver climbed out of the car. He was wearing a tailored navy blue suit with a blue and white checked dress shirt. He held out his hand for Mari.

She slid across the seat and took Oliver’s hand. Mari had Thea’s voice in the back of her head explaining how to get out of the car without flashing the photographers. Mari stepped out of the car wearing a white satin sheath dress with an abstract blue tulip print.

Oliver held Mari’s hand and waved to everyone with the other. “Good afternoon! How’s everyone doing today?”

The couple walked through the wrought iron gates that led into the community garden. There were rows of plants for as far as the eye could see.

Thea had been there for nearly twenty minutes organizing everything. She was determined to make this situation operate like a well-oiled machine. There was only one chance to introduce Star City to Oliver’s girlfriend, properly.

A man strung a red ribbon across the entrance of the garden.

She said, “You both look perfect. The cameras are going to love both of you. Oliver you are going to say a few words first and then you will cut the ribbon. Are you ready?”

He nodded. “I have my remarks memorized and ready to go.”

Thea beckoned him forward and stopped just behind the red ribbon.

Oliver rested a hand on the small of Mari’s back and followed Thea to the garden’s entrance.

The photographers started snapping pictures again.

Oliver said, “I am so happy to be here today. This community garden is the first step of a revitalization project that is near and dear to my heart. The Glades suffered greatly during the Undertaking.  However, these historic and vibrant neighborhoods had long been ignored and isolated from the rest of Star City. This neglect can no longer be tolerated by any of us. The city council named me mayor of Star City—and that includes every neighborhood. I am the mayor of Orchid Bay and Adam Heights. I am the mayor of Lamb Valley and the South End. I am the mayor of the Triangle and the Glades. I love this city and I want to see every neighborhood thriving. I know this is possible because you all are still here. I have heard the pundits from outside our fair city suggest that we should all abandon Star City. However, those people do not understand our resiliency. They do not understand our connection to this city. We will never give up on Star City or each other. That is why it is my great honor to open the first of ten planned community gardens.”

Thea opened a black velvet case containing a pair of bronze ceremonial scissors.

Oliver removed the scissors from the case and cut the ribbon. He smiled, “Welcome to the Blossom Hills Community Garden.”

The younger girl took the scissors from her brother and then returned them to the case. She slipped them into her purse.

Oliver walked over to a large pedestal and pulled back a cloth. He said, “Today this commemorative plaque will be installed in the garden. It honors and recognizes by name the people that lost their lives to the violent attacks that have plagued our city in the last few years. There will be a plaque in each of the community gardens yet to be opened. These plaques are to honor the lost but also to remind all of us that we can do better. We owe it to the mothers, fathers, brother, sisters, sons, and daughters that are no longer with us.”

He stood beside the stone pedestal so that the photographers could get pictures of it.

Thea said, “Mayor Queen is now going to tour the garden and meet with some of the local residents. However, there will be media availability afterwards. We will allow small groups of the press into the garden to take pictures if anyone is interested.”

Oliver took Mari’s hand and walked further into the garden.

She kissed his cheek and whispered, “You were magnificent, Oliver.”

“Thank you. And thank you for being here with me today.”

“There is nowhere else I would rather be,” she replied.

A gray-haired African-American woman walked over to Oliver. “You probably don’t remember me, Mayor Queen.”

He smiled and said, “I could never forget you, Mrs. Matthews. You took me to task at the last city council meeting for the state of the potholes on your street. I hope that the road crew has taken care of all the trouble spots.”

“They got right over here and filled them all in the very next week. I feel foolish for saying that you didn’t care about the residents of the Glades,” she replied.

“I am glad that you spoke up that night. Many things need to be fixed here in the Glades. Sometimes I get wrapped up in the big picture and forget how important the day-to-day things are. The Green Spaces Initiative and the Lighthouse Program are nice but passable streets are just as important.”

Mrs. Matthews not so subtly looked in Mari’s direction.

Oliver took the hint. “Oh, this is my girlfriend, Mari McCabe.”

Mari smiled and shook Mrs. Matthews’ hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” the older woman replied.

Thea walked over a few minutes later with another older woman. She said, “I am glad to see that Mrs. Matthews has already found her way to you. This is Mrs. Rossi. These two women are the ones that have done all the legwork to make this community garden a reality. They recruited their neighbors to help them plant and maintain the garden. Mrs. Rossi and Mrs. Matthews are also responsible for all of the decorative items you see here.”

Oliver said, “You both have done an amazing job with this garden. You are a credit to this neighborhood and Star City. I would love it if you could show us around the garden.”

Mrs. Rossi smiled. “It would be our honor, Mayor Queen.”

Mrs. Matthews started walking forward. “All of the vegetables and herbs that are planted here are organic. Everything is growing very well as you can see. The kids just love coming here to work in the garden. The local elementary school plans to schedule a few field trips here. The kids will get to see nature in action. So many of the young ones think their food comes from a grocery store. It will be good for them to realize that their fruits and veggies had to grow first.”

Mrs. Rossi motioned to the handmade signs that demarcated each section. “These signs were painted by a local artist. He’s also responsible for the mural.”

Mari and Oliver took a moment to admire the mural painted on the brick façade of the adjacent building.

The tour of the community garden took nearly 30 minutes. The women were incredibly proud and insisted on detailing everything for Oliver. The reporters followed them the entire time taking candid photos.

At the end of the tour, a group of ten children were waiting. Their ages ranged from five to 16 years old. The five year old was a little boy with big green eyes. He was holding a basket with fresh vegetables picked from the garden. He held up the basket. “This is for you. I’m Jake.”

Oliver smiled and ruffled the boy’s dark brown hair. “Hi, Jake. I’m Oliver. Thank you. Did you help grow these?”

He nodded. “We all did. We helped plant em, too.”

“Well, you all did an amazing job. Look at this tomato. It’s a big as your head,” Oliver said. He pulled a tomato from the basket.

The boy giggled. “No it’s not.”

Oliver chuckled. “Are you sure? It looks like it might be.”

Thea swooped in to grab Oliver. She took the basket from his arm and handed it to Mari. “It’s time for you to make your statement to the press. You’ll have to field a few questions, too. Is Mari coming with you?’

He shook his head and gave his sister a stern look. He had already shot down the idea of the press asking Mari any questions. He was still concerned about aftereffects from her dip in the Lazarus Pit last night. 

Mari watched as Thea bustled Oliver over to the gaggle of reporters waiting on the sidewalk outside the garden. She liked seeing him in Mayor Queen Mode.

She heard giggles and turned to find the majority of the children had exited the garden through the back gate. They were headed to the basketball court next door.

However, Jake was still standing there.

Mari asked, “Are you going to go play with your friends?”

He shook his head and scuffed his foot against the ground. “I’m too little to play basketball with them.”

She placed the basket on a bench and stooped down so that she was closer to eye level. “Well, that doesn’t seem very fair. You know, I’m kinda little too but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad basketball player. What do you say we head over to the court with the others kids?”

He looked up at her from underneath long eyelashes. “Really?”

Mari nodded and grabbed the basket of veggies from the bench. She offered Jake her hand and said, “Really.”

Jake took her hand and walked around to the basketball court next door. The older kids were already dividing up into teams.

Mari walked onto the court and asked, “Do you have room for two more? Jake and I can count as one player.”

An older girl holding a basketball squinted at Mari. She looked to be about sixteen. She said, “I’ll take her and Jake.”

The other captain was a boy of about the same age. He laughed. “Do you want me to spot your team a couple of points, Catalina?”

She rolled her eyes and tossed the ball at him. “Nah, we’re going to beat you fair and square, Chris. First one to thirty wins.”

Mari sat the basket on the sidelines and kicked off her pumps. She walked out onto the court. “Come on, Jake. We’ve got this!”

Christopher tossed the ball back to Catalina and laughed. “It’s your ball first.”

Catalina dribbled the ball but Christopher was guarding her.

Mari threw her hands up and said, “Over here!”

The girl passed the ball to Mari.

The older woman drove to the right by the teenager guarding her and made an easy layup. She smirked, “1.”

Catalina grinned and said, “Oh yeah! This is going to be fun.”

Mari had a blast playing basketball with the kids. It reminded her very much of the neighborhood she grew up in as a kid. Kids were always playing some sport whether it was basketball in the driveway, hockey in the middle of the street, or baseball in a vacant lot.

The game was actually competitive but she made sure to keep Jake involved. More than once, she lifted the little boy up so that he could make a basket.

Catalina’s team were the victors when the game finally ended.

Mari was about to grab her shoes and then go find Oliver. However, she realized that he was already standing on the sideline with an amused smile on his face. A few other residents were standing around watching as well.

Jake grabbed Mari’s hand and pulled her over to Mrs. Rossi. “Grandma! Meet my new friend. Her name is Mari and she helped me play basketball with the big kids,” he explained proudly.

Mrs. Rossi smiled and hugged her grandson. She said, “Jacob, I hope you weren’t bothering this nice lady.”

Mari shook her head. “No, he wasn’t bothering me at all. I had fun playing basketball with the kids. I don’t know….you might have a little Steph Curry on your hands here. He has a great handles. You just wait until he’s a little taller.”

“Basketball. Basketball. It’s all he ever talks about. I can’t keep up with all the players that he and my other grandson like,” Mrs. Rossi explained.

Jake looked up at Mari. “Are you gonna come back to play with us again?”

“Would you like that?” Mari asked.

He nodded.

She smiled and said, “You bet I will. I might even be able to convince the mayor to join us.”

“Really?” He asked with big eyes.

She nodded and lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “But he’s not very good at basketball so he can be on the other team.”

Jake giggled uncontrollably.

Oliver handed Mari her shoes. “I will have you know that I am a great basketball player.”

Mari placed a hand on Oliver’s arm so that she could step back into her shoes. “Is that right? Well, you may just have to put your money where your mouth is. I think a friendly wager is in order the next time that we’re here. What are you doing two weeks from now, Mr. Queen?”

Oliver grinned at Mari and said, “Apparently, I will be winning a basketball game.”

The kids behind them oohhed and ahhed.

Mari’s eyebrows rose at his challenge. “Did you not see my team’s skills out there? We’ll crush you. Fine, the loser of the game buys ice cream for everyone. And I’m talking about the good stuff from Primatti’s down the block.”

Oliver’s smile widened. “Okay, I can agree to ice cream for everyone. Who doesn’t love ice cream? Let’s double down on this bet. The loser also has to wear a mascot costume of the winner’s choosing for the rest of the afternoon.”

She grinned and extended her hand to Oliver. “You have a deal, Mr. Queen.”

The kids cheered excitedly.

Mari smiled at them. “I guess we’ll see all of you in two weeks.”

Oliver waved at the kids before taking Mari’s hand. They walked to the car where Noah was already waiting.

Once they pulled away from the curb, Oliver smiled at Mari. “What did you get me into?”

She laughed and shook her head. “I’m innocent. I merely told young Jacob that you weren’t a very good basketball player.”

He shook his head. “Well, that is where you are wrong. When I was younger, I played basketball all the time. I have some skills on the court.”

Mari leaned closer to Oliver and asked, “Were you All-City three years in a row?”

The blonde man’s eyes widened. He pointed at her accusingly. “You’re a ringer.”

She laughed and said, “Let’s face it, you were the one that was going to be paying for the ice cream whether you won or not.”

“True but I will have to really focus on finding the right mascot costume for you to wear  **when** you lose,” Oliver mused.

“In your dreams, Queen,” she replied.

“How was your first foray into the political spotlight?”

Mari said, “It was nice. I didn’t really have to do anything. I know that was your doing.”

Oliver smiled a little. “I just…I didn’t want you to have to jump in with both feet on the first day. You only agreed to this yesterday. Then there was everything that happened last night. No matter happens with my political career, I want us to be okay.”

She kissed his cheek and slid her hand into his. “We are okay, Oliver. I wanted to be here today and it was fun. I like seeing you in mayor mode. That garden was beautiful. I think you are really going to turn this city around.”

“I’m trying. Sometimes it feels like a losing battle but I’m not one to give up. I meant what I said. I love this city. I’ll never stop trying to save it.”

Mari asked, “Are you going to stay at my place tonight?”

Normally, Oliver didn’t patrol the city on Sunday nights. However, he wanted to get Roscoe Dillon off the street before he hurt someone else. He nodded, “I have a few things that I need to look into later, but I’m free after that. I can cook paella and we can watch a movie.”

“I’d like that. I was really looking forward to that paella. I know Sunday is usually movie night but we didn’t get to watch Vampire Diaries last night.”

He made a face. “Watching The Vampire Diaries is a strictly Saturday night activity. What if we watch the Shining? It’s a classic.”

Mari scowled. “Absolutely not. I’ll have nightmares.”

“It’s not that scary.”

Her frown deepened, “We could watch the first Halloween movie. I was never really afraid of that one. I always felt that I could outrun Michael Meyers if I needed to.”

Olive chuckled. “You are so strange.”

“I am but you love me anyway. I mean…you like me,” Mari said. She avoided Oliver’s eyes. She muttered, “We are watching Vampire Diaries because I need some Ian Somerhalder in my life.”

He smirked. “Fine...Vampire Diaries it is.”


	6. Half A Step Away

**Star City**

 

Felicity had to force herself to leave Palmer Tech at 8 o’clock. She had been spending every free moment scouring every surveillance camera in Star City for the metahuman that had tried to kill Mari. They needed to get Roscoe Dillon off the street before he harmed more innocent people. However, Felicity was also concerned about what Oliver would do if the search became protracted. He had been on edge in a way that she hadn’t seen in a long time. He tried to pretend as if he was handling the aftermath in stride. Mari was alive and well after all. However, Felicity knew better, because she knew him. More than once she had caught Oliver in the middle of a thousand yard stare.

She was also working on identifying the boy that had been living with their career criminal metahumans. He still hadn’t volunteered his name, age, or any personal information of value. Moreover, there were an alarming number of missing and exploited children all over the country. Felicity was thinking that she might use her skills to help solve some of those open cases in her spare time. She almost laughed out loud at the idea of having spare time. It was becoming something of a foreign concept. Her day job at Palmer Tech was almost as consuming as her night job as Overwatch. Unfortunately, Felicity’s day job and her night job had been overlapping a little too often lately.

Felicity was also trying to shoehorn a romantic relationship between her all consuming jobs. It was beginning to feel a little impossible. For instance, this was one of her few free nights. She should be going on a date with Billy. Felicity would love to be going somewhere romantic with mood lighting and good food. Yet she was walking up to the townhouse her mother shared with Quentin Lance. Donna had insisted that Felicity have dinner with them tonight. She was going to refuse until she learned that Sara was home for a few days and would be joining them for dinner. They didn’t often get a chance to spend time with Sara since she joined the Legends. Felicity couldn’t very well miss an opportunity to catch up with her friend/step-sister.

She was just fortunate that Billy was such an amazing boyfriend. When she told him about dinner with her family, he insisted that they could just reschedule date night. Felicity might have fallen in love with him a little more in that moment. She had nervously asked him to join her for dinner. In hindsight, she shouldn’t have been worried at all. Billy was honored that she had asked him to meet her family. Felicity didn’t realize that was what she had done until after he said so. She had waited for a wave of panic to wash over her but none came. Felicity wanted Billy to be more involved with her life and this was the first step.

She clutched a box of gourmet cupcakes as she knocked on the townhouse’s door.

Quentin opened the door wearing a ‘Kiss The Cook’ apron. It looked like something that Donna would have bought for him. He smiled. “Hi, Felicity. Come in.”

She walked into the house and closed the door. “Hi, Quentin. Something smells amazing.”

He said, “I am making my famous baby back ribs with baked beans, potato salad, and corn on the cob.”

Felicity’s stomach growled. She blushed and said, “I skipped lunch and I am starving.”

Quentin chuckled and said, “Donna put out some appetizers if you want to grab something while we wait for the ribs to finish cooking. She’s upstairs getting ready still.”

“Oh! Yes, that would be amazing.” She handed Quentin the box of cupcakes. “I brought dessert.”

He smiled. “Thank you. Where is Detective Malone? I hope he’s still coming tonight.”

Felicity followed him into the kitchen. She went straight for the platter with crab dip and crackers on it. “He’s running a little late because of paperwork but he will be here soon.”

Quentin put the cupcakes in the refrigerator. Then he pulled the ribs out of the oven to glaze them with his homemade barbeque sauce. “Your mother is excited about him having dinner with us tonight.”

She smiled a little as she munched on the crab dip. She eyed the stuffed mushrooms longingly as well. She said, “I know. He’s actually pretty excited to meet her, too. We would have done this sooner but our schedules just haven’t been lining up lately.”

He nodded in understanding. “Donna and I have been having a bit of that lately, too. “

Felicity nodded absently as she checked her tablet for updates on all the searches she was running. 

He eyed her closely and then returned the ribs to the oven. He asked, “Are you okay?”

Felicity looked up and smiled. “I’m fine.”

Quentin smiled and said, “I raised two girls. I know that I’m fine usually means the opposite. I don’t mean to pry. I mean I know that I’m not your dad or anything. I just....if something is wrong I am willing to listen.”

She smiled sheepishly at how quickly Quentin had rambled off his offer. “It’s nothing. I’ve just had a long couple of days at work.”

“Day job or night job?” he asked sympathetically.

“Both,” She replied. “I have so much going on at Palmer Tech right now. The company needs my undivided attention but that’s not really possible. Then my night job is bleeding into the day after what happened this weekend.”

“How is Mari?” he asked. Quentin had received the abridged version of events when they dropped off the young man currently staying in his guest room.

“She’s okay. Oliver has me worried now. He is beating himself up about what happened to her Saturday night. It’s like ten times worse because they’re dating. I think it might be serious,” Felicity explained.

Quentin was relieved that Oliver had finally come clean with Felicity. He didn’t like keeping secrets from Donna but Sara asked him for discretion. He felt that the young man should have said something in the beginning since they were all working together. However, he understood how awkward things could be between exes. He was still in a strange place with his ex-wife despite the fact that they were both remarried.

Felicity studied the look on his face and then gasped. She pointed at him and said, “You knew about Oliver and Mari? Was I the only one that didn’t know?”

Quentin frowned because he thought that he had a better poker face. Perhaps he was getting a bit soft because of his role as Deputy Mayor. He said, “Oliver and I aren’t close enough for him to tell me something like that. I found out accidentally the last time that Sara was in town with Leonard. He was complaining about going on a double date with Oliver and his girlfriend. Apparently, they know a relative of Mari’s because of time travel. Snart didn’t know that the relationship was still a secret. Sara told me that sometimes it’s hard for them to remember exactly how the timelines progress. They had just left the recent future...if that makes any sense. The whole time travel thing is too confusing for me to wrap my brain around most of the time.”

It made all of the sense in the world to Felicity. Leonard had assumed that Oliver and Mari’s relationship was public knowledge because he had just left a time where it was. It meant that this relationship wasn’t a passing fancy. It had staying power at least in the span of the next few years. Felicity remembered Sara’s last visit to Star City. Ray had tagged along and the two of them had lunch together. In passing, he had mentioned that they had just left the year 2020. He had only told Felicity that as a means of reassuring her that Palmer Tech was still prospering in the near future. She had been a little worried if she was doing a good job as the company’s CEO.

“Do you think he loves her?” Felicity suddenly asked.

Quentin leaned against the counter. “I do not know. Oliver doesn’t really seem to be the type to rush that sort of thing. He’s not the thoughtless boy that he used to be. I doubt that they’ve been together long enough for it to be love.”

“But it might be one day,” she commented.

“How does that make you feel?”

Felicity looked up in shock and then huffed out a laugh. “Did you snag that one from your counselor?”

Quentin gave a self-deprecating smile. He had started seeing a counselor after Laurel died. He was worried that his grief would cause him to relapse. He had come close to giving in to the temptation. However, Donna and his sponsor were always right there to encourage him to attend another meeting. Sometimes he went to two meetings a day just to keep his head above water. Fortunately, Quentin was coping with the loss of his daughter better now.

“I did but it is useful,” he replied.

“At first, I was upset that Oliver hid their relationship from me for so long. Then again, I hid my relationship with Billy from him, too. I didn’t even tell him the truth…he just sort of found out because he’s Oliver.” She paused to really think it over. She said, “Mostly, I am just happy he didn’t revert to the Oliver that broods alone. Just because we didn’t work out doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be happy. And I like Mari.”

He smiled at her.

Felicity blushed and said, “Thanks for listening to me ramble.”

Quentin chuckled. “It’s my pleasure. Besides, I’ve gotten used to it since I married your mother. The best part of being with Donna is that I never have to worry about filling the quiet spaces.”

“Because there aren’t any,” Felicity added.

The older man smiled when he heard someone knock at the door. “That’ll be Sara and Leonard.”

“I’ll get it,” Felicity said. She hopped down from the bar stool and walked to the front door. She peered out the peephole to make sure it was Sara. Felicity snickered at herself because Oliver had finally ingrained the practice into her routine. She used to fling open the door without bothering to look when she was expecting company or a delivery.

She opened the door with a bright smile. “Sara!”

Sara grinned and pulled the shorter blond girl into a hug. “Felicity!”

Leonard merely stood to the side watching the two women with a half smirk. He always enjoyed seeing Sara interact with her family. She was a different version of herself in those times. It was something that he could understand. Captain Cold was very different than Lenny that doted on his younger sisters and spoiled them rotten.

Felicity pulled back from the hug and said, “Hi, Leonard.”

He nodded in acknowledgement. “Miss Smoak…”

She spied the box of cupcakes in the thief’s hands and she chuckled. “You guys brought dessert, too?”

Sara laughed with her as they walked into the living room. “Well, they are the best cupcakes in the city and Donna loves them. Do you know what the big deal about tonight is?”

Felicity looked perplexed. “No. Is there a big deal?”

She nodded. “Oh, yes. I didn’t know if I would have time to come to Star City on this trip. There’s tons of stuff that Leonard and I need to be doing back in Central City. His baby sister’s birthday party is this Sunday.”

Leonard said, “I’ll just take these into the kitchen while the two of you gossip.”

Sara rolled her eyes at him playfully as he walked by her. “Anyway, Lisa and Tommy take care of everything while we were away with the Legends. When we’re home we try to pitch in more to make up for it. But Dad called to say that he and Donna really wanted us to drop by for dinner tonight. It sounds like it might be important.”

Felicity scrunched up her nose as tried to remember her recent conversations with Donna. “I don’t know what it could be. My mom hasn’t mentioned anything to me. But she did make a big deal about me being here tonight. I didn’t exactly have the time to be here but…”

“What’s wrong? Is Ollie okay?” Sara asked immediately.

She groaned. “No. Yes. Maybe? I don’t know. It’s a whole thing. We’re looking for this metahuman that nearly killed Mari.” She quickly added, “She’s totally okay, but Oliver had to use the Lazarus Pit. Then there’s this teenager that was living with the metahumans we were chasing that night. He won’t tell me his name and I haven’t been able to find him. I think he might be telling the truth about not having any living relatives.”

Sara made a mental note that she needed to see Oliver before going back to Central City. “Is there anything I can do to help? We’re going back to Central City tomorrow afternoon but I could stay longer if you need me.”

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that. You were just saying how little time the two of you have here.” She tilted her head to the side making her ponytail bounce. “Well, maybe there is one thing that you could do. The boy I mentioned told us that he is from Central City. Maybe you could check into his story for me?”

Sara nodded. “I can definitely do that. Just send me all the pertinent information and his picture. Leonard has a lot of connections in the city. He might be able to help me identify the kid.”

Felicity literally felt a little lighter. “Thanks.”

Donna squealed when she walked downstairs and saw Felicity and Sara in the living room. “I am so glad that both of you are here!”

Both young women chuckled as a blond blur ran across the room to hug them.

After she hugged her mother, Felicity asked, “Where is Nora?”

Donna said, “She’s finishing her homework. She’ll be down in a few minutes. Actually, that’s the reason we wanted to have you over for dinner tonight. Come into the kitchen. I can’t tell you the news without Quentin.”

Felicity and Sara shared a look but followed Donna into the kitchen where Quentin and Leonard were talking.

“Is something wrong?” Sara asked.

Donna moved to stand beside Quentin and shook her head. “No, nothing is wrong. Quentin and I just have big news that we’d like to share with our daughters. You’re getting a new little sister.”

Felicity’s blue eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Are you pregnant?”

Sara looked between Quentin and Donna expectantly. 

Donna wrinkled her nose and said, “Goodness no! At my age, my body would never recover from a pregnancy. We’ve decided to adopt Nora. We filled out the paperwork and it was approved. Now we just have to wait six months for the adoption to be finalized by the courts.”

Felicity stared at her mother and stepfather in disbelief. She had been surprised when they decided to become foster parents for the orphaned girl. Felicity had actually been grateful for their intervention. She felt some guilt that she was partly responsible for both of the girl’s parents dying. They were awful people but Nora was still their daughter. She actually got along well with Nora. The girl was smart and creative. She could be a little shy but she came out of her shell whenever they talked about science.

“That’s amazing you guys! I can’t believe that you kept this a secret from me.”

Sara grinned, “Me, too. This is great.”

Quentin said, “Well, we worried that the adoption wouldn’t be approved by the courts because of my…problems.”

Donna shook her head. “He was worried. I wasn’t worried at all. I knew that they would see Quentin as the amazing man and father that he is. But I decided to humor him since he was so nervous.”

Leonard said, “Congrats.”

Felicity said, “Congratulations. I am so happy for all three of you. Wow, we’re really a family now.”

Now Quentin’s ramblings about not being her father made so much more sense. He was probably nervous about telling her. Quentin had been nervous when he and Donna sat Felicity and Sara down to tell them about their Las Vegas wedding.

Donna’s eyes lit up when Felicity said that they were a family. “Yes, we are, baby girl.”

Sara walked around the counter to hug her dad. She whispered, “I am so happy for you and I know that Laurel would be, too.”


	7. The Smoak-Lance Family Values

Billy tried to bite back a laugh because he saw the blood rushing to Felicity’s face. He cleared his throat. “Uh, there are pictures of Felicity in a beauty pageant?”

Sara had no such compunction about laughing at her stepsister. “We’ve gotta see these pictures!”

Felicity looked as if she wanted to crawl underneath the table. She defended herself, “I was only five-years-old at the time. I wasn’t old enough to object!”

Donna nodded with a small grin. “It was the last time I was able to get her to participate. I am so glad that I took so many pictures. I’ll get the photo albums out after dessert.”

“Mom,” Felicity complained.

Sara bit her lip as she laughed. She asked, “What was her special talent?”

Felicity buried her face into her hands.

“She sang  _ Someday My Prince Will Come _ ,” Donne replied proudly. She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think I have a video of that in the attic.”

Sara grinned like mad woman. “Yes. Please!”

“Mom!” Felicity exclaimed.

Quentin smiled as he watched his family sitting around the dining room table. They rarely had the opportunity to get together like this. Sara was usually traveling through time on the Wave Rider. While Felicity was usually slaving away at her day and night jobs. Quentin wasn’t exactly flush with free time either because Oliver kept him busy as deputy mayor. However, he cherished these moments because they helped keep his grief at bay. He would never stop missing Laurel. Quentin wasn’t even sure that the pain of losing her would ever fade. He was just trying to live his life in a way that honored his daughter’s memory.

His attention shifted to Nora and the teenager that Oliver had dropped on his doorstep a few nights ago. The youngsters were talking adamantly about something on Nora’s tablet. Quentin was glad to see that the young man was slowly starting to come out of his shell. He actually gave verbal responses when they asked him questions now. The teen seemed to understand that they weren’t going to hurt him or mistreat him. It burned Quentin up inside when he pondered the boy’s reaction. He wondered if that fear had come from the lowlifes that had used the boy as a pawn in their crime spree. However, he knew that it was just as likely the teen had a bad experience in a foster home.

Quentin’s years as a police officer meant that he knew a thing or two about the foster care system. He knew how easy it was for children to fall through the cracks. He also knew how easy it was for people with bad intentions to gain certification to become foster parents. Unfortunately, there were more orphaned and neglected children than their overtaxed system could effectively monitor. However, their young charge presented a special case because he was a metahuman. It wouldn’t be easy finding a permanent placement for him. Many humans were still wary of metahumans. Quentin had been the same way until he spent some time with Barry Allen.

Leonard kissed Sara’s cheek and murmured, “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to call home.”

She gave him an appraising look. Len had been quiet for most of the evening. She asked, “Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Everything is fine. I just want to check in with Lise.”

Sara knew that it was more than Len was making it out to be. However, they didn’t exactly have the privacy to discuss it now. She nodded. “Okay. Hurry back.”

Len squeezed her hand before he walked out of the dining room. He stepped out onto the porch and called Mick back in Central City.

The line picked up after a couple of rings.  _ “Have you eaten dessert yet?” _

“What?” Len asked.

_ “I have a bet with Lisa. Have you eaten dessert yet?” Mick reiterated with a huff. Lisa could be heard cackling in the background. _

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “We’ve started dessert but haven’t finished eating yet. Why?”

_ “Damn it!” Mick exclaimed. “You just cost me 100 smackers. This had better be good, Snart.” _

Len rolled his eyes. “How is everyone there?”

_ “Everyone is just as healthy as when you left.” _

“Good. Do you remember that woman you dated a few years back? She had the unique name and tended bar at Saints & Sinners for awhile.”

_ He whistled lowly. “Yeah I remember the legs on her. They went on for days. I haven’t thought about Sandra in years. Why’d you bring her up?” _

“It’s just something that came up here in Star City. She had a kid, right? A son. Do you remember his name?” Leonard asked.

_ Mick said, “Yeah, she had a son. He was a little ankle biter back then but I liked the kid. He gave his ma all sorts of trouble. Can’t say that I remember his first name now. She mostly called him Hawke.” _

“Thanks, Mick.”

_ “You gonna tell me what this is about?” he asked. _

Leonard said, “Sara’s folks have a kid staying with them. He won’t give up his name. They ran him through every database they can think of but he doesn’t have a record. Doesn’t seem like anyone is looking for him either. But he’s wearing this pendant that looked familiar to me. I spent most of dinner trying to figure out where I’d seen the thing before.”

_ The arsonist grunted in acknowledgement. “You’re talking about the crescent moon Sandra used to wear. What the hell is he doing all the way in Star City?” _

“I didn’t get the entire story but Sara said that he was holed up with Dillon and another metahuman. They have been pulling jobs here in Star City. The kid said his mom died when the particle accelerator blew up. I’m sorry, Mick.”

_ “I haven’t seen her in years. It’s no skin off my nose but she was a good woman. What the hell is Roscoe doing hauling the kid around? He can’t be more than 13 or 14 years old now.” _

Leonard replied, “He’s a metahuman, too.

_ “Really? What can he do?” _

“No clue. Anyway, I should head back inside before Sara comes out here looking for me. I just wanted to follow up on my hunch.”

_ “Let me know if it turns out to be Hawke,” Mick said. _

“Yeah. I’ll call later.” Len ended the call and walked back into the house.

Sara looked up when he sat beside her. “Is everything okay at home?”

He nodded. “Yeah. What did I miss?”

“My dad was just explaining how Nora is a much better student than I ever was,” Sara said with a chuckle.

Donna added, “She won the science fair just last week. I can’t even begin to explain her exhibit but all of the teachers were very impressed. Now we are going to have two geniuses in the family.”

Nora blushed a little and shrugged her shoulders.

Sara decided to rescue poor Nora. The girl was obviously uncomfortable with all of the praise. “I was promised that there would be board games played tonight. What are we playing?”

Billy suggested, “Monopoly?”

Sara, Felicity, and Donna all made a disgusted noise.

Quentin chuckled. “I am afraid the ladies in my family don’t like my competitive spirit when we play Monopoly.”

Donna suggested, “Charades?”

Sara said, “Not a chance!”

Felicity asked, “What about Trivial Pursuit? We can play in pairs or teams?”

Donna’s eyes lit up at that. “Oh! Boys versus girls.”

Quentin frowned. “Didn’t we just establish that Felicity and Nora are geniuses? And Sara has always been shockingly good at the History and Entertainment categories. That hardly seems like a fair fight. I think we should pick teams.”

Billy joked. “I think I might have just been insulted.”

Felicity laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers. She was relieved that Billy was getting along so well with her family.

Donna said, “We’ll draw names out of a hat. That way no one gets chosen last on purpose. I’ll go get a pen and some paper?”

Sara stood up. “I’ll go dig the game out of the closet. Where are we doing this?”

“Living room,” Quentin answered.

Donna added, “Make sure that you bring the cupcakes, too.”

“Yes, dear,” he replied jokingly.

Everyone began moving around to get the living room set up for game night.

Leonard saw his chance to speak with Quentin. He walked up to the older man and asked, “Can I have a word with you?”

He lifted an eyebrow as he placed the boxes of cupcakes on a side table. “Are you about to ask for Sara’s hand in marriage? Because I am fairly certain that she would castrate you for doing that.”

The thief let out a surprised laugh. “You are right that she would castrate me for doing something so archaic. But no, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“What’s on your mind, Snart?”

He said, “I think I might have figured out the identity of your new houseguest. I figured asking him out right would just make him deny it. But I was thinking if I called out his name…”

“He might be surprised enough to answer or at the very least show some acknowledgement,” Quentin conceded.

He nodded. “I just wanted to clear it with you first. Besides, he seems like a runner.”

“He’s definitely that.”

Oliver practically had to force the teenager into the house the other night. He had only relented when he learned that the other option was going to a juvenile holding facility. It had been an empty threat. Mari wouldn’t have stood for that. However, it did the trick.

Len nodded and said, “Just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page.”

“Thank you.” It would be nice to have something to call their young charge. Quentin had been calling him ‘young man’. While Donna called him ‘sweetheart’.

Leonard took a seat close to the front door. He wanted to make sure the kid didn’t have an easy lane of escape. He had no interest in chasing down someone nearly 30 years younger than he was.

Sara walked into the room with the board game. She cleared off the coffee table and began setting up the board. Afterwards she grabbed a cupcake and sat on the couch as they waited for Donna.

The older blond woman walked into the room with a bowl. She smiled. “I think that Quentin and I should be the captains. Does anyone object?”

Everyone shook their heads. They had figured as much.

Donna passed the bowl to her husband. “You can choose first.”

He dug around in the bowl and picked out a folded piece of paper. He grinned at the name scrawled on it. “Felicity.”

Felicity smiled at her stepfather as she sat on the couch with him.

Donna huffed and took the bowl from him. She chose the first slip of paper her fingers brushed across in the bowl. “Leonard is going to be on my team. I hope his past career will help us in the Arts & Literature categories.”

“Naturally,” he replied in a lofty tone.

Quentin chose next. “Billy.”

The detective was just grateful that he was on the same team as his girlfriend. He squeezed beside her on the couch.

Then Donna chose again, “Sweetheart, you are on my team. Won’t that be fun?”

The teenager shrugged a little and shuffled to Donna’s side of the coffee table.

Quentin chose again, “Nora.”

Donna clapped her hands together. “Which means Sara is on my team. Let the games begin!”

Leonard saw his opening. “Hawke, can you pass one of those cupcakes to me?”

The teenager’s head snapped up and he locked eyes with the thief. His mouth opened and then quickly snapped shut. He was out of his seat and headed to the front door in seconds.

However, Leonard was right there to stop him. He placed two hands on the boy’s shoulder. “There is no need to run…”

“They’re going to send me back to Barnaby’s,” the teen argued as he struggled against the older man’s solid grip.

Leonard tensed because he had done a brief stint at Barnaby’s before his grandfather got him out of there. He could only assume that the group home had gotten much worse since then. “Hey. No one is sending you back there. I won’t let them. I’m from Central City, too. I grew up in the same neighborhood that you did.”

The boy nodded a little. “I know who you are. You’re Mick’s friend.”

“You remember Mick?”

He nodded. “He used to light stuff on fire. He was cool.”

Leonard chuckled. “Maybe you could talk to me. I’d like to know what you were doing with Roscoe.”

“You know him, too?” he asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, I do. He’s bad news, kid.”

Hawke nodded as he looked down at his shoes. “I know that now. He tried to kill the Vixen.”

Quentin cleared his throat. “Why don’t we postpone the game for a bit?”


	8. Freshman Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! I just want to say that I am so sorry for the huge gap between chapters. Long story short, my computer went kaput because I am one of the most frugal (re: cheapest) people you will ever meet. I have been putting off buying a new computer for well over a year and it finally bit me in my keister. I have been working like a mad woman trying to play catch up. I am still behind :-(. However, I didn't want to make you all wait any longer. I hope you like this chapter and please excuse if it is a little rougher than normal.

Mari could count on one hand the number of times that she had cooked for Oliver since he started staying the night at her apartment. Her foster mother, Patty, had taught her to cook as a child. Mari was actually good at it, too. She had about a dozen go-to recipes that usually turned out perfect. However, Oliver was definitely the better cook out of the two of them. Often he used his downtime in the kitchen to relax after a stressful day as mayor. He had been having a lot of those lately. Oliver and Councilman Winters had been trying to find a compromise for weeks on a zoning issue. Unfortunately, they were running out of time. The city council would be meeting next week to vote on the proposal Oliver and Winters had yet to craft.

When she made it home, Mari wasn’t surprised to find her apartment filled with several mouthwatering aromas. Her stomach literally rumbled. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Mari had spent the majority of her day preparing for the Fireman’s Ball that upcoming weekend. She put down her shopping bags and walked into the kitchen. It looked like a war zone. Mari would wager that Oliver was using every pot and pan that she owned. However, she was certain that the finished product would be well worth the clean up. Mari walked over to the counter where Oliver was aggressively chopping the ingredients for a garden salad. 

“Bad day?” she asked.

Oliver gave her a tense smile. “You could say that.”

Mari frowned and moved to the refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle of water and then leaned against the water. “Still no closer to a compromise with Winters?” she asked.

“Actually we found an arrangement that works for both of us. Hopefully, the rest of the city council will agree or we will have to go back to the drawing board.”

“Well, that sounds like a win to me.”

He nodded. “It was. I am going to meet with a few city council members before the vote. Hopefully, I will be able to sway their votes in our favor.”

Mari lifted an eyebrow and asked, “Then what’s with the Iron Chef routine?”

His lips curved into a small smile. Mari and Oliver occasionally watched the original Japanese version of the cooking program. “Something unexpected came up today. Sara dropped by my office this afternoon with news about the boy that was living with those criminals.”

Her expression became tense. “Is he okay?”

Oliver realized how his bleak his words must have sounded to her ears. He quickly shook his head. “Everything is fine with him. Sara’s boyfriend actually helped identify him. The boy’s name is Connor Hawke. He is 13-years-old. He is also from Central City.”

Mari let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that is great news. Does he have any family that we can find for him?”

He huffed out a wry laugh. “Maybe you should sit down.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” she muttered. Mari sat down at the island. “What’s going on, Oliver?”

Oliver said, “Like I said, Snart helped identify Connor. He knew the boy’s mother when she was alive. Felicity was able to dig into Connor’s background with that information. She even managed to find some old pictures of Connor with his mother. Sara saw those pictures and recognized the woman. Her name was Sandra and I dated her briefly during my first year of college. It was during one of my many breaks with Laurel.”

“Oh,” she breathed in shock. “Is he your son?”

“I don’t know but the timeline certainly fits. I was kicked out of school not long after Sandra and I broke up. She never contacted me again. However, my mother was known to play interference. I told you what she did to William’s mother. I suppose there is a possibility that my mother paid off Sandra, too.”

Mari said, “Wow. Have you talked to Connor? Does he know that you might be his dad?”

“No, I haven’t talked to him yet. Sara didn’t mention her suspicions to anyone else either,” he replied. “She wanted to give me time to figure out my next move. I suppose the most obvious thing would be to get a paternity test. I don’t want to get Connor’s hopes up for no reason.”

She knew how hard Oliver had struggled with letting William go. She wondered if he had it in him to do it a second time. She asked, “Does that mean that you plan to be part of his life?”

Oliver finished making the garden salad and put it aside. “I don’t see how I have a choice. Connor’s mother is dead. Felicity did a deep dive on their family tree and can’t find a surviving relative. I hate not being part of William’s life but it is worth it to keep him safe. And I know that he is safe with Samantha. However, Connor doesn’t have that. There is no way that I could allow my son to be a ward of the state. Not to mention that his powers make him vulnerable to the likes of Roscoe Dillon or worse.”

Mari felt a range of emotions as the processed this huge news. She understood Oliver’s point. Mari had been lucky that Chuck and Patty McCabe had taken her in as child. There were thousands of children across the country that were not as lucky as she had been. Some people took in children because they had good hearts. However, others saw needy children as an easy payday from the state. Unfortunately, there were despicable people that had far more insidious reasons for fostering children. Unsavory types had already coerced Connor into committing crimes with them. He had felt gratitude for Dillon allowing him to stay in a rundown factory with him. The teenager was fortunate that he wasn’t injured, killed, or arrested in the aftermath of the heist. He might not be so lucky the next time.

“Mari?” Oliver asked in a tentative voice.

Her brown eyes widened when she realized that Oliver was talking to her. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

He moved around the island to sit beside Mari. He asked, “Are you okay?”

She huffed out a quiet laugh. “I think that I should be asking you that question. I mean…you might have another son. How are you coping with that?”

He looked around the chaotic kitchen and chuckled lowly. “As well as I possibly can be considering the circumstances. However, right now I am concerned about you.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I knew about William before we started dating. I certainly knew about your wild years as a younger man. This doesn’t change how I feel about you. I’m shocked of course but I am also incredibly happy that we were the ones to intercept Connor that night instead of the police.”

Oliver had to agree with her there. He didn’t want to think about his son getting tangled in the legal system’s web as a presumed orphan. He probably would have ended up in a juvenile detention facility. Oliver found himself shocked by his own train of thought. When had he accepted the fact that Connor was his son? Truthfully, he had probably accepted it the moment Sara dropped the bombshell onto him.

He nodded, “It was a lucky break. We haven’t gotten many of those lately. However, things are starting to look up on finding Roscoe Dillon. Leonard knew the man fairly well before he became a metahuman. He has a few ideas on where Dillon would hide out until the heat dies down. Sara and Leonard have offered to help us find Dillon and put him behind bars where he belongs.”

“Well, that is great news. The sooner he is off the street the better. I’ve been worried that he might come back for Connor,” she confessed.

Oliver had been worried about that, too. Dillon had already lost his other partner to Iron Heights. However, the kid was still moldable and had a set of impressive powers courtesy of the particle accelerator explosion. He wouldn’t even have to the split the take with the kid equally. Oliver had actually made it a point to patrol the area around Quentin and Donna’s townhouse to make sure Dillon wasn’t lurking in the shadows. “Leonard seems pretty certain that he can help us find Dillon.”

“Good. I do have one question. How are you going to get a DNA sample from Connor without him knowing what it is for?”

Oliver said, “Sara is going to snag his toothbrush for me. I’ll talk to Felicity about running the test for me. I don't want to wait for the results.”

Mari asked, “Have you told Felicity yet?”

He shook his head. “No, I wanted to talk to you and my sister first. I talked to Thea about everything while I was still at work. She is surprisingly happy about all of this.”

“What about you? Are you happy?” she asked curiously.

Oliver ran a hand over his head and smiled wryly. “I still don’t know how I feel. If Connor is my son, then I will do the right thing. But I am worried about keeping him safe. I worry about the adults that choose to fight by my side. However, at least they have a choice in the matter. Connor won’t have a choice. It’s not just the danger of my life that worries me. The public scrutiny won’t be easy on him either. There is also the little matter of me not being in his life for the last thirteen years. I am sure that will lead to some great teenage angst. Not to mention that I know exactly nothing about parenting.”

Mari took his hand in hers. “I know that you didn’t exactly ask for my advice.”

“You know that I value your insight,” he replied.

“I think that you should stop thinking about all of the terrible things for a few moments. Take some time to enjoy the fact that you probably have a son and that against all odds he made it here to you. He’s a good kid, too. Connor jumped in the harbor to save my life. He could have died doing that but took the risk anyway.”

He kissed her hand and said, “I just can’t shake the feeling that it is a curse to be a Queen. The things that have happened to my father, my mother, my sister, and me are unimaginable. One trauma was more horrible than the one before it. I don’t want that for William or Connor.”

Mari said, “I’ve learned that family curses will always find you. My curse found me an ocean away but I am stronger because of it. Fortunately, I had some really good people in my life to help me along the way. You’ll do the same for Connor.”

Oliver pulled her into a gentle kiss. “How do you feel about the possibility of Connor staying with us? It will be a big change for you, too.”

She said, “My only concern is about the amount of closet space you’ll be willing to give me.”

“Come again?” he asked.

“Well, we can’t continue staying here if Connor is your son. There isn’t enough room. We are going to have to stay in that lovely loft that stands empty most of the time. That is unless you want to hold off on the whole living together thing?”

Oliver chuckled and said, “I have gotten too used to waking up in bed with you to change now.”

“And the closet space?” she asked with a grin.

He huffed and stood up with a chuckle. “You can have as much closet space as you want.”

Mari said, “Well, then I am satisfied.”

Oliver shook his head and went to check on the crown roast in the oven. “Dinner will be ready as soon as the roast rests.”

“This calls for wine. I think we have a Boudreaux that would go great with lamb. I am going to decant it,” she said. 


	9. Stepping Up to the Plate

Oliver hadn’t been surprised when Felicity explained the results of the paternity test to him. He had known that Connor was his son from the moment that he met with Sara in his office. The paperwork was just a formality for legal purposes. He would have to share these results with the local and state authorities in order to have his name added to Connor’s birth certificate. However, that was only the first step. Oliver and Thea had met with his attorney for well over an hour while the man explained the complexity of the process that lay ahead. All the details gave him a headache. Fortunately, the lawyer assured Oliver that he would handle all of the heavy lifting.

The next step was telling Connor the news. Oliver wasn’t looking forward to that. He remembered being an angst-riddled teenager. Despite his parents flaws they were present in his life. Robert and Moira made sure that Oliver wanted for nothing except for discipline. Moreover, he never had a reason to doubt that they loved him. Unfortunately, Connor was coming from less than ideal circumstances. He lost his mother tragically and became a ward of the state. He was bounced around foster homes before finally landing in a group home for troubled boys. The boy then ran away from the group home and lived on the street for months before Roscoe Dillon decided to become his ‘mentor’. That same mentor had subsequently abandoned Connor when he chose to do the right thing and save Mari’s life. The bottom line was, Connor’s life had been tumultuous and Oliver was about to turn it upside down again.

Oliver was just fortunate that he had so many people in his life that were willing to help him. Sara offered to stay in Star City for as long as Oliver needed her. Meanwhile, Thea and Mari had gone shopping less than an hour after Oliver had met with his attorney. They were eager to ensure Connor would feel welcome when Oliver brought him home. He tried to explain that it might not happen today. He didn’t know how Connor would take the news. He was obviously comfortable with the Smoak-Lance family. Oliver would not rip him away from that on the same day he broke such important news. He would give Connor a choice. However, he hoped that his son would choose to come home with him today.

He had decided to take Mari’s advice and embrace the happiness he felt. Oliver couldn’t say that he had ever planned on being a father. On the other hand, he also had not done very much to ensure that he didn’t become a father. However, the circumstances no longer mattered because he had a 13-year-old son that had been through hell since his mother died.

He walked up to Quentin and Donna’s front door and knocked. The older man had offered to facilitate the conversation between Oliver and Connor. The two were at least on friendly terms whereas Connor didn’t know Oliver at all.

Quentin opened the door and beckoned Oliver into the house. He explained, “Donna is at work and Nora is at band practice so it will just be the three of us.”

The younger man walked into the house and closed the door behind him. “Thank you for helping me with this, Quentin.”

He nodded. “I am just glad that kid has somewhere to go. I couldn’t have seen myself sending him back to that group home. The stories that Leonard told about that place…”

Oliver tensed because Sara had relayed a few of those stories to him. It made him curious about the state of the group homes in his city. He had asked Thea to pull as much data as she could. He followed Quentin into the living room. “That’s not happening,” he said with conviction.

The older man nodded. “You can have a seat. Connor is upstairs watching a movie. I’ll go get him.”

“Okay,” Oliver replied. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down. Oliver took the opportunity to put his phone on silent. Everything else could wait until after he spoke with Connor.

A few minutes later, Connor and Quentin walked into the living room.

Quentin cleared his throat. “Connor there is someone that I would like for you to meet. This is Oliver Queen. He is the mayor of our city but he also happens to be a family friend.”

The teenager looked at Oliver suspiciously. He didn’t understand why the man would want to talk to him. “Hello,” he said.

Oliver stood up and offered the boy his hand. “Hello, Connor. It is nice to meet you.”

Connor shook Oliver’s hand before sitting down. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Queen.”

“Oh, you can just call me Oliver,” he offered.

“Okay,” the boy murmured.

Quentin sat beside the boy for comfort. However, he was also sitting close to prevent him from running. Running seemed to be Connor’s first instinct and Quentin couldn’t really blame him. He couldn’t imagine all the hardships the teenager had suffered since his mother died.

“Have you enjoyed staying here?” Oliver asked.

The boy shrugged. “I guess. Quentin and Donna are nice. The food is good.”

The retired police captain chuckled at Connor’s comment about food. The boy had been eating them out of house and home in the few days that he had been with them. However, he and Donna hadn’t minded one bit. Moreover, Felicity seemed to think that Connor’s impressive appetite was probably connected to his metahuman physiology.

Oliver nodded. “I am glad. How long have you been living in Star City?”

“A few months I guess. We got here before the summer. Roscoe wanted to have enough money saved up to get a real place before winter. Last year, we stayed in an abandoned house. We used kerosene heaters to keep warm and it made all of our stuff smell.”

Oliver understood that dilemma all too well. He had used a kerosene heater while he was in Russia. The noxious smell seeped into everything in the house. Moreover, it could cling to the skin the longer a person was around it.  “After awhile it makes the food taste funny to you, too.”

Connor perked up a bit when he realized that Oliver had some experience with kerosene. He nodded.

“Yeah, it’s because the chemical sort of coats that nasal passages. That affects how food tastes,” he explained.

Quentin lifted an eyebrow at the forced small talk. He figured it was better to rip off the band-aid quickly. Beating around the bush would only make the teenager more anxious. Connor was perceptive enough to realize that something out of the ordinary was happening.

Oliver understood Quentin’s silent prodding. He took a deep breath and hoped for the best. Oliver could honestly say that he was nervous. He would rather fight Ra’s al Ghul again than do this. His mind was plagued with all the ways this could go terribly wrong. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt a kid that had already been hurt and let down.

He said, “I wanted to talk to you because I knew your mother, Connor.”

Connor sat up straighter on the couch at the mention of his mother. His hand sought out the crescent moon pendant that hung around his neck. He didn’t have many possessions but he was always careful not to lose the pendant. The family heirloom was one of the few things he had to remind him of his mother. The pendant had been passed down through three generations of his mother’s family.

He asked, “Really?”

Oliver nodded. “Sandra and I went to college together during my freshman year. She was a junior at the time. I was only there for a year. I was placed on academic probation at the beginning of my second semester. I had flunked out by the time the school year ended in May. I wasn’t exactly the best student.”

“You weren’t? But you’re the mayor,” Connor pointed out.

Quentin snorted in amusement because on paper Oliver didn’t have a single qualification to justify his stint as mayor. The citizens had given Oliver the job because he was the only viable option. He had given a rousing speech encouraging the citizens of Star City to resist the urge to give up. Moreover, every mayor they had in recent history had been killed in one way or another. They had no idea how hard Oliver worked to protect the city—day and night.

He chuckled quietly. “Well, I was a very different person thirteen years ago. Fortunately, I grew out of that phase and now I am the mayor of Star City.”

“Were you and my mom friends?” he asked. Hope and curiosity tinged his young voice.

Oliver loosened his tie in a small fit of anxiousness. He said, “We were friends…but we actually dated for most of the year that I was in college. We had to break up when I moved back to Star City. We didn’t think a long distance relationship would work very well.”

He decided to leave out the fact that he had been off and on with Laurel during that time, too. There was no reason to tell his son just how much of a bastard he had been.

Connor stiffened because he knew that his mother met his father while they were in college. Sandra had always spoken about him in glowing terms. However, she hadn’t been as kind in speaking about Connor’s grandparents.

The mayor cleared his throat and began, “I am telling you all of this because I am your father, Connor. I didn’t even know that was a possibility until a few days ago when I learned your mother’s identity. I know that you do not have a reason to believe me but…I would have been part of your life had I known about you.”

“I know.” He amended, “I mean I didn’t know that you were my father, but I did know that my mom didn’t tell my dad about me. When I would ask Mom why, she always said that she would tell you when the time was right. But she died before…”

Oliver felt the tightness in his chest loosen when he heard that Sandra hadn’t threw him under the bus with their son. He said, “I am sure that she was just waiting for me to grow up a bit but then a few years after you were born there was an accident.”

“You died,” Connor supplied. He frowned a little. “I mean everyone thought that you died.”

Oliver nodded and said, “Right. I was gone for a very long time.”

The boy looked puzzled for a moment. “How do you know that you are my dad? I mean…”

He cleared his throat. “I hope this doesn’t upset you but Sara took some of your hair for a DNA test. I probably should have just talked to you but I was worried about getting your hopes up.”

Connor didn’t like that they had been keeping secrets from him. However, he also knew that he would have felt let down if it had turned out he wasn’t Oliver’s son. “It’s okay…I guess.”

Oliver was willing to take the boy’s lukewarm approval over the alternative. He said, “My lawyer is using the paternity test’s results to get my name put on your birth certificate. Once that happens, I can petition court for custody of you.”

“You want to get custody of me? What does that mean exactly?” Connor asked.

“Well, it means that I would have the legal right to take care of you. Right now, you are a ward of the state because family services couldn’t find any living relatives after your mother died. It also would mean that you would be living with me.” He paused and added, “Well, you would be living with me and my girlfriend.”

Connor went quiet for a minute. In an uncertain voice, he said, “You have a girlfriend?”

Oliver noted his son’s apprehension. He said, “I do. Her name is Mari. She is a really amazing person. I am actually excited for the two of you to meet each other. I was hoping that you would have dinner with us tonight. My sister, Thea, would be joining us, too. They are both anxious to meet you.”

“They are?” he asked in a surprised voice.

“Yes, they are. They would be here with me right now but we didn’t want to overwhelm you. I know this has to be a lot for you to take in right now.”

Connor went quiet again. He had gone from being completely alone to having a father and an aunt. “I guess dinner would be okay. What are we having?”

Quentin chuckled. “You have appealed to his sensibilities with the mention of food.”

“Well, I am going to cook dinner. Do you have any preferences?” he asked.

“I really like burgers,” Connor said.

Oliver smiled. “I think that I can make burgers happen. Maybe if you have a good time during dinner you might consider spending the night. If not, I will bring you back here. I am not trying to rush you. You can take as long as you need to adjust.”

Connor looked at Quentin as if to gauge his response.

He nodded with a warm smile. “You are welcome here for as long as you want, Connor. We’re not going to push you out the door just because Oliver is your dad.”

“Thank you,” he muttered in a relieved voice. 


End file.
